


Project: Resurrection

by Red_Leasia



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types, Resident Evil 6 - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Resident Evil 6
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 14:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 60,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11784735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Leasia/pseuds/Red_Leasia
Summary: The fruits of a long secret project are coming to bear...(This is part of a series, "The Immortality Virus" is part 1)





	1. Chapter 1

He set the phone down in its cradle. They used older phones down here. None of the new cell phones. Those were hackable, traceable. And he didn’t want to be found. At least not yet.

_I did it Wesker, you son of a bitch, you told me I could and honestly, I didn’t think it could be done. But I did it._

It was strange to think that Albert Wesker, his sponsor, was dead while he was very much still alive. His latest sponsor Derek Simmons was also dead. He had provided the legitimate cover, provided the samples from the young Sherry Birkin. His one mistake had been to set her loose as an asset. She should have stayed in the lab. She was a B.O.W. and a remarkable one at that. They should have figured out how to keep her under control before putting her into the field. It could be done, but Simmons had assured them that Sherry knew nothing.

He sent her off chasing a rumor. _Your rumor, Wesker. You’d always wondered about Anja, why she just left. Too bad you never checked up on her._

He was getting older, the ache in his bones as arthritis set in was becoming a bother. But Wesker had promised much if this little experiment worked. He was dead but he had made sure the experiment would go on. They had planned for the inevitable.  

Phase one had been complete. They’d gotten a sample of the C-Virus, mixed it with the G-Virus. The genetics were fascinating, the results impressive. Rewriting the genetic code had proved possible as the technology improved and they’d made sure to stay on top of it. But so far it had no controlling mechanism to made the virus write what they wanted. It did wonders for those immune to it. But others it mutated out of control.

But at least the J’avo in whatever phase of the mutation they were in could be controlled to an extent. They did not turn into mindless killing machines, at least not initially. 

Malcom Derges had sacrificed much, including his own son. Wesker could do the same. His natural son was an unforeseen event. Again, Malcom wondered how Wesker had missed it. It was a cog in the projects that didn’t fit. Yet upon the discover of Jake Muller, Neo-Umbrella had torn itself apart to get their hands on him. Not to mention the many other organizations that suddenly found a use for him.

And Simmons had sent in his pet B.O.W.?

They’d been pulling this together for years. The cloning, the computer programming in tandem to map out the brain. Even copy the memories and reload them into a computer system. They had so many failures lurking in the shadows. Super soldiers were easy. The tyrants, a distraction. Even Carla Radame’s project, which she thought was her own had their fingerprint on it. She was a successful clone herself. Simmons’ obsession with Ada Wong had allowed them to convince him they could give him a perfect copy. His own desires had caved and the money poured in. Carla had continued after that

Wesker wanted one thing alone besides coming out on top.  It was the same thing Spencer had craved. They were both mad men.

It made a perfect kind of sense in a way.  Spencer had wanted to be a god, and Wesker had taken his place. But Wesker had succeeded in ways that Spencer hadn’t lived to see.

 

Wesker then used the cloning on himself.

Malcom had his own DNA stored for later use, but he hadn’t yet had the guts to clone himself. Wesker on the other hand, Malcom had no clue how many clones had been made. They may have been heavily involved in the project together but Wesker didn’t tell him everything.

They’d scanned many minds in the project, including William Birkin’s. Wesker had even taken Birkin’s DNA without his knowledge. Malcom had wondered if Wesker had planned on resurrecting one of the few men Wesker had considered a friend but nothing had ever come of the sample. Wesker had never brought it up again. It sad undisturbed in storage.

But a clone had infiltrated Neo-Umbrella just as Wesker planned. He’d gone under a different name until things were in place. He’d been coached for years until Wesker had died. Malcom had waited. Waited to see how he would run things. 

Then China had happened and the clone had gotten his clutches on Sherry Birkin for a short time.

Malcom knew it was time. Who knew how much the clone had been privy to? Malcom was afraid of the original Wesker. You would be a fool not to be. Even dead, he still had things rolling, and so Malcom had made the call to the younger Wesker, who, surprisingly, was already aware that he was not a son but a clone.

And now he was on his way here.


	2. Nightmares

He expected the pain.

Jake knew he’d been hit. He’d felt that kind of agony before. It seared as the bullet embedded into his shoulder from behind. He gasped as his arm dropped, his gun falling from his hand. Bullets whizzed over his head, buzzing dangerously close to his ear at one point. He dropped to his knees, grabbing the gun with his other hand and rolled in front of an over-sized trash bin for cover.

 _How did I get stuck in this alley?_ The buildings loomed over head, casting long shadows interspersed with the neon lights from the city.

His memory was foggy from the pain for a moment. The burning pain he noted with consternation wasn’t abating like he’d expected. _Where the hell was Leon? And Sherry for that matter?_

 _Sherry shouldn’t be here at all._ But she was, he’d seen her. He couldn't remember why she was here too. _Something about the mission. What was the mission?_

He put a hand on his head. _Must have lost more blood than I thought._

A man with 6 eyes irregularly placed on his face emerged in his line of sight. Jake picked up his 9millimeter and fired at the J’avo, hitting him straight in the face.  The J'avo dropped instantly. That one wasn’t coming back at least.

Mutated J’avo had chased him here, he remembered. He’d been separated and gone off to the right to draw them away from Sherry and Leon. The long cricket leg variety, he had no idea what to call them, just knowing their legs could slice a man’s head off, and they were still carrying AKs. They looked like a mutated centaur, a project gone horribly wrong. He’d fired a few shots in their direction to get their attention and run, picking off a few here and there that got too close. The odds weren’t exactly in his favor here.  

“Jake!” It was Sherry’s voice, then Leon next to her, armed and fired over his head at the creatures behind him. Sherry darted forward but Leon grabbed her from behind and pulled her back, his face expressing surprise as he took a step back.

“I thought he was immune?” Leon shouted over the noise, firing bullets toward the advancing J’avo behind Jake.

Something was wrong. He felt searing pain burst through his shoulder and his vision blackened for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Jake’s voice came out raspy from vocal cords that were wrenched slightly out of place, not quite right. Like the J’avo in China when they had spoken to him in Mandarin before he’d killed them.

He turned to his throbbing shoulder and stared at the place where his arm should have been, only to see skin shred itself open as new red skin burst out of his body. The new arm, shot out, covered with pink sinewy muscles, a large claw-like appendage at the end, much larger than his body should have been able to carryy. It made no sense. He dropped his gun and his fingers felt across his face. He found an extra eye here and there, his fingers came back bloody.

_Fuck._

“Nooooo!” The wail tore from his throat as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened to him. He stared at his arm and went to tear it off with his free hand. The attempts were in vain, there was nothing he could do to rip it off. He was supposed to be immune. _I'm not my father_ , he thought to himself.  Isn’t that why they chased him around the world for his blood? _What the fuck was this?_

“Jake!” He could hear Sherry calling his name. He clasped his eyes shut wanting to deny the reality in front of him. Wanting to die. Wanting to wake up…

His eyes snapped open. He was drenched in sweat, laying in his own bed. The blankets he’d kicked off himself were tangled around Sherry, sleeping next to him. His breathing was heavy, coming in gasps.

“Shit.” He gasped as he glanced at his arm. His normal human arm. “Son of a bitch.” He whispered in relief.  He flexed his fingers, never so relieved in his life to see his own hand. His hand went automatically to his face, nothing extra there. Just the missing scar that bothered him when he forgot about it. 

“Jake!” It was Sherry. Next to him, whimpering, her own nightmares plaguing her. What a pair they made.

She gave a low moan and Jake knew immediately that this was not restlessness from the baby. Her arms flew up to protect herself from whatever she was seeing in her dreams. Jake reached over and grabbed her shoulder gently turning her over as he whispered into her ear. “Super girl, I’m here.”

She quieted and curled into his chest, all without waking up. She was tiny compared to him, her head barely reaching his chin. He put his arm around her now and ran his fingers through her hair until they were both breathing easily again.

Her nightmares had returned, and he had his own fears. Memories from the experiments that they both endured in China. He lay awake for a long time thinking about how their lives had come almost full circle. He hated Neo-Umbrella or whatever the fuck, shell company they were using now. He hated his father Albert Wesker, hell he even hated Sherry's father for helping Wesker. Both men were dead now. There was only their mess left to clean up. It was ironic now that they were together helping to destroy what their parents had created. 

He wrapped his hand around Sherry’s swollen abdomen, planting a kiss on the back of neck as he pulled her close. He needed Sherry, probably too much. She was his reminder that he was in fact the good guy. That he was still human, he could still feel. He inhaled her scent and stayed holding her against him. He was shaken from the nightmare. He should probably talk with her about it. She would understand his fears; that he was exactly like those J’avo they’d fought. One day he’d be hit and sprout a mutated limb, or grow 4 more eyes.  He lay there trembling in the darkness his arms locked around her.

They’d been through so much together in their short time, it felt like years.

They were two sides of the same coin. Life could have turned out differently for either of them.

Sherry as a child loved her parents and had never understood what exactly it was they were creating. But Sherry as an adult understood all too well and had suffered the ramifications of their decisions.

Jake had never had to go through having parents who loved him and yet were creating monsters and using unwilling humans to do it. His father never knew he existed. His mother sacrificed her health for him and died when he was still young. But she had loved him. Jake reasoned this was the best possible outcome for him. Being a megalomaniacal freak show had not kept Wesker alive at any rate. And Wesker never knowing that he was alive? That had kept Jake alive.

Realizing he was not going to get any more sleep that night, Jake slid carefully out of bed, being careful not to disturb Sherry. They had been married for the past two months and he loved every second of it. His new job with the Department of Security was helping him use his own particular skill set effectively against B.O.W.s wherever they happened to turn up. It was becoming a disturbingly normal occurrence. 

His relationship with the deceased Wesker was still top secret.

Sherry had been on desk duty for the past two months. She was removed as being just an asset and fully signed on as an agent in her own right. No longer reporting to Simmons, or his successor, Sherry had more flexibility in her decisions than she knew what to do with. Except for the desk duty. He would never admit it to her or anyone else out loud but he was relieved that she was out of the field for a little while. Her connections too were top secret. As long as they both worked for the DSO, they would stay that way.

Jake had been partnered with Leon as a joke.

He remembered that day, even Leon had been surprised, but grumbled out. “He’ll do.” This had surprised his bosses more than anything. They’d expected more of a fight out of Leon, who’d always worked alone.

Hunnigan had insisted it was time he trained someone for the job and it might cool his lone wolf tendencies just a bit. Fat chance.

But after a few missions and discovering that Jake was just as reckless if not more so than he was, Jake knew Leon had no issue taking him out into the field. There really was no training Jake for the job. Leon figured if he could curb Jake’s loose cannon tendencies he’d be perfect for the same kind of thing Leon did.

Jake checked the time.

4am.

He let out a deep sigh and slid back into bed next to Sherry. He would rather be here than anywhere else. His biggest worry right now was wondering what that clone had been doing this whole time. He doubted that the clone would remain in hiding for long, but the absence of activity bothered Jake. J’avo appeared here and there but the clone remained hidden.

Jake was so deep in thought he suddenly realized his phone was beeping on the side table. He snatched it up glad for the interruption to his thoughts.

"Yeah?" He grunted into the phone.

It was Leon. "Wake you?"

“Not exactly?”

Leon hesitated. “Nightmares?”

Jake didn’t respond for a moment. Leon had been doing this for a long time. It was still uncanny how much he knew without being told. “Maybe.”

“We’re being called up again. More activity.”

Jake tensed for a moment. It was close. Too close to Sherry's due date. Jake had leave coming, when Sherry went into labor he wasn’t leaving her side.

"Come again?"

"Pack a bag, I'm on my way…"

"Claire?"

"I've already called her, she's on her way too. She stayed in the area like she promised. Don't worry, you still have a few weeks left." Leon ended the connection and Jake moved to grab a bag he kept just for the occasion. He threw on a loose shirt and dug through a basket looking for a pair of jeans. Jake groaned inwardly. He and Claire were not best friends. He did not get along with the either of the Redfields for different reasons. At least until recently. He doubted he and Chris Redfield would ever truly be friends but they each had a healthy respect for the other. Chris had seemed genuinely disappointed that Jake did not join the BSAA. He’d been offered a spot there too.

Claire on the other hand seemed to be waiting for him to just drop the ball and start some world domination project like his biological father.

God, he loved disappointing Claire.


	3. The Boy (2)

Jake followed Leon through the hallway, his own gun up. Although he preferred a handgun to carrying around an automatic gun of any type, had their uses. They were both armed to the teeth. Jake had laughed when Leon had handed him a large combat knife, but Leon had only shaken his head saying a knife had saved him more than once when he'd used all his ammo. The knife was currently occupying a pocket on the front of Jake's vest. Leon had the same. Had it truly only been almost nine months since Sherry had walked into his life again?

Claire had referred to Leon as a one-man army and Jake had agreed with her. Leon often disobeyed orders about going into a "zone." When told to stand down he often went in anyway at least just to scout. It was as if his superiors expected it. 

That is what they were supposed to be doing now. Hunnigan had called him with a possible J'Avo sighting. It was so near to their home in upstate New York that Jake would never believe it was coincidence. They had the back up of other agents, but Leon had decided to go in first because he still had his suspicions of a mole in the agency.

Now alone in a building with flickering lights they were chasing a lone J'avo. Instead of attacking, the creature had run from them. Leon had dealt with several "inventions" mostly by Neo-Umbrella using biological warfare both to decimate and to create new weapons. In the last few months they had come out of the shadows and B.O.W.s was a by-word in the common vernacular. No longer did people argue about whether or not you could have guns. Because "infected" had shown up in so many places the argument was no longer valid. It had become a "when" not "if" scenario.

There was a power struggle somewhere in the upper echelons of the elite, decided Leon. The creation of the B.O.W.s had unseated someone. Or whatever the "family" was doing. Ada would have been an expert on the people who were "really in charge" as she'd put it before. But he hadn't heard from her as of late. 

A lone J'Avo though was almost unheard of. When they attacked, it tended to be groups…while they were fully functional in their first forms, any injury causing them harm would mutate them. If you did not take them out with a head shot, they simply grew another arm, leg, body, etc. Jake had seen a J'avo in China that resembled a mutated centaur. The forms made no sense, the mutations were random…and when the creatures died, they collapsed in on themselves, the virus no longer able to maintain the body.

Jake was glad for the C-Virus immunity he had inherited from his father. Without that he would be just like one of those J'Avo, probably dead by now like the rest of his unit. He suppressed the memories. Survivors guilt. 

No time at the moment. He could think about them later.

The long hall stretched out in front of them with many doors on either side. It was a death trap if creatures came running out of those doors. It reminded Jake of the mansion in China. A J'avo around every corner. Hell they'd even had a tank there to make sure they didn't get out. 

Leon checked the door on the end, motioned behind him and pointed to the door in front of him. Jake nodded, he would cover their asses just in case. Leon flung the door open and rushed in guns drawn. 

Inside a blonde boy crouched in the corner behind a chair. The J'Avo in front of him sword in hand turned around to attack them but one shot to the head from Jake's gun dropped it forever. 

Leon moved forward gun scanning the room immediately dismissing the boy as a threat.

Jake stared at the blonde boy, he didn't lower his gun. Jake had grown up in a world with child soldiers. Hell, he'd been one. His gut instinct told him the kid was dangerous. 

This was supposed to be a clone. He couldn't have been more than 5 years old. Jake wondered briefly if his father had looked just like this and dismissed the thought as irrelevant. Not worth thinking about.

Leon scanned the room, other than the dead J'Avo they had just shot, there was not much else here.

Bookshelves lined the wall on one side. The other was strangely smooth with no decoration. A door turning towards the right turned out to be a bathroom. Leon closed it and turned to the smooth wall frowning.

"It's a screen." Jake said immediately. He turned to the boy who sat on the floor clenching his hands and trembling in fear. If this was a younger Wesker clone he certainly did not have the commanding presence of his predecessor. "Isn't it?"

The boy nodded and pointed. "Alice." He whispered. The screen lit up immediately.

"Hello Albert." A female voice answered him, the screen lit up and a girl could be seen standing in front of them. She glanced around the room noticing the visitors. "Passcode?" She asked.

"Passcode?" Leon said looking over at Jake with his eyebrows up.

"If you do not know the passcode," the computerized voice of Alice came from the wall. "You will have to stay until vetted by the proper authorities. I'm afraid I must insist you remain here until you are dealt with." She paused and they heard a metal clang.

Glancing back at the door with their guns up they noticed a metal door was now covering their only exit.

"Well this just got fun." Jake muttered lowering his gun. 

Leon spared the boy a glance. "What does it take to let her know we are not a threat?" Leon asked.

The boy stared at them. "You're not?" He stuttered at them cringing a little each time they moved. He looked at the dead J'Avo. "Why did you kill him?"

"We thought he would harm you." Said Jake, dropping to his knees to look at the boy at eye level. "Were we wrong?"

"Yes," whispered the boy. "He brought me stuff, food…books… and he cleaned."

Leon and Jake exchanged glances. J'Avo taking care of a child seemed to be stretching it a bit.

"We're sorry about your friend." Leon said awkwardly. The boy only nodded solemnly.

Jake stood back up and backed away. He had come from a war-torn country himself, seen kids affected by war. He was one of them. Something about this kid screamed that he knew more than he was letting on. It could have been the fact that he was a clone of the most diabolical human Jake could think of. 

"How do we get out then?" Leon asked him.

"Oh," The boy said standing. "I can give the passcode."

"You can?" Leon looked surprised.

"He is a proper authority." Alice commented. The computer simulation gave Leon the creeps. She stared at the child and Leon wondered who was really in charge here. Jake shot a concerned look at Leon, and Leon knew he was thinking a long the same lines. 

"We're not a threat." Leon continued pulling his gun into his pocket. "If you want we can get you out of here, into the real world."

"Outside?" The boy looked surprised. His skin was pale but otherwise he appeared in good health.

"Yes." Leon nodded offering a smile. So far, so good.

Jake stood back observing everything, noting everything. He was naturally suspicious and wondered briefly if this was how Claire saw him. He felt a pang of empathy for Claire, always being suspicious of him. The pang didn't last long. Jake had no intention of destroying the world any time soon. His biggest ambition today was to make it back home in one piece. 

The boy nodded and stood, he turned to the waiting Alice and spoke one word. "Uroboros."

Leon froze, and Jake noting his reaction followed suit. "What?" He asked eyes flicking around. He had learned to read Leon and there wasn't much that startled the man. Monsters or otherwise. But "uroboros" certainly did.

The metal doors slid open and the way was open again.

"Who taught you that word?" Leon asked the boy quietly, his hand tensed on his rifle.

"My father," the boy lowered his eyes. "I haven't seen him for a while. It was my password to make Alice work." He pointed to the waiting girl behind the screen. "She gives me lessons, tells me stories."

"Let's get out of here," Jake said shuddering. He would never admit it out loud but the boy gave him the creeps. That and they could potentially be trapped in this room again. He was anxious to get back to Sherry.

Leon moved to the door. "I think you'll need to come with us…uh…"

"Albert." The boy supplied. "My name is Albert."

Leon and Jake both tensed at the name. They exchanged glances.

"My father." The boy glanced at both of them. "He isn't coming back is he?"

"No." Leon shook his head. Jake inhaled watching his reaction, but the kid took the news calmly. He seemed to expect it. Maybe that was better than Jake's own reaction. He'd threatened a BSAA agent, pointed a gun at him, shot a bullet past his face. 

This keeps getting better and better, Jake thought. After a few more exchanges the boy followed Leon out into the hall. Jake glanced around the room again. The girl stared at him from the screen. It was incredible technology. It gave him the creeps. He moved out glad to be away from the simulation. The girl smiled and waved before disappearing, laughter following in her wake. Jake shuddered.

"Jake we got a problem." Leon was standing in the hall.

"What is it?"

"That room is also occupied." Jake looked to the door on his right. Leon had looked in ahead of him when he'd heard a noise. He looked grim and Jake knew he wasn't going to like what he saw. He had a nagging feeling he knew whose face he would see.

"What?" Jake shifted his attention to the boy who only shrugged.

Leon only lifted an eyebrow. "Back up is on the way. They radioed in."

This time Jake nodded. He glanced at the door and opened it slowly, gun raised in front of him.

Albert Wesker turned around and glanced at Jake and Leon coming into the room. The boy had not been the only clone in the building.

Same hair, smile, eyes but something was off. Jake couldn't tell what it was but this time the clone was different. Tense, he wasn't relaxed at all as he had been in their previous encounters. This time he looked concerned. Not careless as if he had everything under control and he knew it.

He backed into the corner raising his hands in front of him as he did so. He was actually trembling in fear.

Leon hesitated behind Jake.

Something was off…

"What's the matter asshole? Losing your nerve?" Jake swore at him. The sudden change in character unnerved Jake more than he was going to admit. He moved forward slowly, senses straining for anything that might spring out at any second. 

Wesker was dressed in a black suit outfit with no tie. He wore a black jacket over it that hung low to his knees. Everything fit the character of the last clone that they'd met except…

He was afraid.

Leon leaned towards Jake and spoke the obvious. "Something isn't right."

"Yeah, no shit," Jake responded. He glanced around for any traps but saw none. Sweat glistened off his neck as he scanned the room. Wesker's frightened face haunted him on and off through the flickering lights. He almost pulled the trigger just to see him fall. Wesker Jr. wasn't going anywhere.

"What do you want?" The clone spoke and Jake stopped in surprise. He acted like he'd never met them before.

"What do you mean what do we want?" He snapped. "You've kidnapped my wife twice, experimented on the both of us, tortured Sherry, and threatened our child. You figure it out yet, you sick fuck?"

"Jake he's a clone." Leon's voice came from behind him.

"Yeah got it thanks," Jake snapped, irritated. He really wanted to kill Wesker and be done with the whole deal.

"He's *A* clone," Leon said again, "Not *THE* clone."

Realization dawned in Jake's mind. The uncertainty, the fear, this was a clone of Albert Wesker all right, but he didn't have the memories of Wesker, or Wesker Jr. He glanced over at the younger version of the man everyone hated so much.

"What do you know?" He asked him lowering his gun.

"Nothing, I swear." The fear was real. It was disturbing to see, almost as disturbing as the previous clones annoying calm. 

He was a blank slate…. He didn't even know his name.

Jake had to hand it to him. He was either a super actor or the real deal. He felt pity for him, even as he wanted to smash his face in at the same time. The back up DSO agents had arrived but not before Leon had interrogated the man. They'd cuffed the clone, loaded him up and taken him away.

"What will happen to him?" Leon asked one of the DSO agents in charge.

"I'm not sure," said the agent scratching his chin. "He's not the first clone we've found."

"Not the first….?" Jake stared at the agent in some surprise, but the guy only nodded and moved off.

Jake had a flashback to what the first clone had said. "There was always a contingency plan where Wesker was concerned."

Wesker was playing them…but he wasn't just playing them from the grave, but planning on making a comeback from it. It was the only explanation Jake could come up with. Why make so many clones of yourself? He's sending you a message. He can get to you any time he wants to. Jill's voice said. Wesker had literally wasted 50 J'avo sending that message. 

And this wasn't the clone they met, where was he?

Jake caught Leon's eye. "We need to get home. Now."


	4. Chapter 4

Ada stood in the lab once again reading what should not have been hers. She didn’t mind, the file had already been uploaded, the money transferred. This part, this was extra. The paper was related to a project Carla Radames had worked on last year.

Rf. Project Immortality

To: C.Radames

Synopsis: Virus a success. Encoded DNA of C-Virus transfer into G-Virus worked but not vice versa. G-Virus mutation in Birkin strain is unique, not the same as the previously applied sample. The mutation has given it some interesting qualities.

Muller’s immunity is the best test subject we have. If we can get the new C/G virus(name?) to work on him, we’ll have plenty of test subjects volunteering.  

Birkin needs to be kept at all costs. Her virus cannot be replicated. The reason is unknown at this time.

Suggest removal of both subjects to the lab in the China Sea. Results are promising, start phase 3 of Project: Resurrection.

From: A.Wesk

Ada stared at the paper in front of her. Surely not.

Surely they knew they’d had Albert Wesker’s clone in their midst the whole time. Her hands shook, and she forced herself to remain calm. Wesker had always been a step ahead of everyone else. He paid well, but his last project with Uroborous had many of his investors on edge.

And the Family had actually put in motion a plan to kill him. Chris Redfield had simply beat them to it. But this paper seemed to indicate that there was more to the story. Wesker either wasn’t as dead as he claimed to be, or his clone was calling the shots. What were the other two phases of the so called “Project: Resurrection?”

Ada turned to leave and turned right into arms of Wesker’s clone. Chloroform filled her lungs. She hadn’t heard his approach. How long had he been there? She didn’t struggle, there would have been no point.

Her mind teetered on blackness as she tried to comprehend how he’d suddenly appeared behind her. She never felt her body slide to the floor.

 

* * *

 

 

They made him wait.

Jake paced the length of the room. He would stop and sigh dramatically on occasion, wave a fist, roll an eye, and simply continue pacing. Leon hid a grin. He understood the impatience. He felt the same way, he had just learned to hide it better.

They had sat through a few hours of interviews on the scene, endured yet another lecture about “jumping the gun” and been forced to wait as the scene was cleared. It wasn’t Leon’s favorite part of the mission. He winced when he thought of the mounds of paperwork he’d have to fill out later. He briefly considered leaving it to Jake being that Jake was the “rookie” but with Sherry, due any day he knew he would be the one filling it out. Jake could catch the paperwork later.  

Jake stopped and stared into the room they'd just found the boy in. Everything had been disabled, the computer program no longer responding to anyone. It appeared to be simply a smooth wall once more. He sighed. Whatever the techies were hoping to get here he didn't know. Just give him a gun and tell him where to point it. He preferred movement to waiting.

"I don't get it," he said to Leon. "What's with all the clones?"

Leon sighed. "You know I never met the guy but he's a pain the ass. Probably to throw us off track, but the problem is, these are real. And unfortunately, they're innocent."

“Innocent?” Jake smirked, thinking of the boy at the end. He couldn’t quite put him in the same league as Wesker even if was genetically identical. He also couldn’t believe he was entirely innocent.

"I still think he wants to come back from the dead." Jake glanced around the complex. The room was small and furnished with a bed, a small table and a chair, all white. There were books on the bookshelf, mostly science books.

"What would you do with all that knowledge in your head and a god complex?" Leon said staring at the wall again.

Jake could only shrug. He wanted to get back home to Sherry. Their child was due at any moment and Jake was practically dancing on his toes to get back to her and be there when the baby came.

Leon saw the anxiety on the younger man's face and grinned. "Go." He said smiling. "I've got this. I'll let you know what we find. If we find anything."

"You sure?" Jake asked, torn. He had been hunting down the clone who had captured and injected him for a while now and wanted to be there when they caught him.

He'd since come to terms with Chris Redfield over the killing of his Father. Hell, there were days when he wished he could have been the one to pull the trigger. Now he was helping to put an end to the Wesker legacy.

Jake was pretty sure that this was the definition of irony.

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Leon. "I'll call you with what we find out. Go, say hi to Sherry for me."

Jake nodded. They were only a few hours away from Sherry and Claire by plane.

He left just as they were bringing the younger clone back. The boy looked up and locked eyes with Jake for a moment and Jake shuddered. This was what his father started off as? The boy did not smile, or make any sort of facial expression… but for a brief moment, Jake thought he saw something in the eyes. A flicker of uncertainty, recognition. Then it was gone.

His eyes narrowed and the boy's face turned a little fearful staring at him. Jake wondered if he'd imagined that glance. It had lasted only a second. If at all. He shook his head and kept moving past him.

"Good luck, kid." The boy said nothing and Jake kept walking. That kid would probably live the rest of his life like Sherry, a ward of the government until the threat of her life was over. And because she was such a valuable asset she wouldn’t be allowed to live without surveillance ever.

He wondered if this was what is was like for Claire. To always be worried that the offspring of Wesker was going to snap. To say Claire didn't trust him was putting it mildly. But they'd come to an understanding for Sherry's sake. Claire at least understood he loved Sherry and would never hurt her. She was never going to feel comfortable around him, but she wasn’t afraid of him.

He hoped.

His phone buzzing knocked him out of his revelry, it was a text from Claire simply reading “LABOR STARTED, GET HERE NOW!”

He forgot everything else and raced to the truck.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Sherry sat in her bed after the last contraction resting. They were about ten minutes apart, and quite painful. She had decided to go without painkillers thinking it couldn't be worse than anything she had experienced before and now she was mentally kicking herself. China had been a walk in the part compared to her last contraction.

Finding a doctor had been difficult. Well almost impossible…

Sherry knew she would have never have known about the pregnancy at all until her belly started swelling. There were no other indications, a lack of morning sickness, or exhaustion of any kind which she knew was probably a side effect of the G-Virus. For once a welcome one.

The healing had set her apart. At least until Jake had come along anyway.

It had been her greatest asset, and her greatest bane. They had tested it endlessly while she was still growing up. Sherry was certain that her samples were still in storage somewhere within the American Government, probably also within the care of other groups by now. And now as an agent she could be sent almost anywhere without worry about serious injury. It was one of the reasons she'd gone into Edonia alone in the first place.

But still she was here now, about to have a baby…Jake's baby. The contraction came again, and she gritted her teeth against it. The pressure built and she tried to ride out the wave but gasped in pain as it peaked. She didn't want to wake Claire who had fallen asleep in a chair after calling Jake.

Claire had been sitting with her for hours after Leon and Jake had left. Tracking the clones of Wesker was a big task and Jake had finally been given a job, identity, and a new legitimate life.

They'd even gotten married…

The memory came as the contraction went. Sherry went ahead and thought about that day. It bad been a small ceremony. A magistrate had officiated.

Leon and Claire had stood behind them as witnesses, Chris and Jill had also shown up. They'd had dinner with them and then gone their separate ways on a honeymoon. Jake had shaken Chris's hand then grinning and saying, "he wasn't wasting time either." Sherry never did figure that one out.

Another contraction came, much harder and this time Sherry couldn't conceal the gasp this time.

In the chair Claire's eyes flew open.

"Sherry, are they getting closer? Why haven't you said anything?" Claire's tone was anything but angry.

"They're definitely getting closer." Sherry gasped out. "Where's Jake?"

"He's coming." Claire said.  _Where was the doctor?_  There was a monitor on Sherry's belly, and Claire hesitated before opening the door to ask for a nurse. "Sherry when is the last time anyone came in to check on you?"

"It's been a while," Sherry replied as the contraction subsided again. Sweat was beginning to glisten across her face.

There was one thing Claire had noticed that Sherry hadn't, and that was it was very quiet. There was no noise in the hall. No other nurses talking. They were on the end room but still, they should hear something. Claire had noted that there were very few other women in the delivery section this week.

"Something is wrong," Claire said suddenly eyeing the door. "It's too quiet out there."


	5. Chapter 5

Jake got to the hospital in record time. There weren’t a lot of people coming or going. Nothing about the place struck him as off until he arrived inside.

The plane ride notwithstanding, he driven straight from the Air Port to the hospital, speeding the whole way. Claire had said ten minutes apart, but labor was labor. He started for the doors, not noticing the lack of people in the downstairs lobby until a bloody handprint on the receptionist's desk stopped him. It was square in the middle like some freaky out of place Halloween decoration.

Jake stared at it, trying to make sense of it in this setting. Things began to click in his mind. The lack of people…

He heard a strange gurgling sound and slowly edged over the counter to look at the floor behind the receptionist’s desk.

Jake had never seen a zombie before. At least not in the brain or flesh-eating sense. He'd encountered the J'Avo on many occasions. But the scene he encountered now would give him nightmares for some time to come.

The receptionist's sightless eyes stared up towards the ceiling as the zombie creature tore into her stomach. It's fingers greedily reached in and pulled out the organs as if it was starving and at a banquet, stuffing the gore into its mouth and spraying blood everywhere.

Jake, nauseated beyond belief, slowly backed away reaching for a gun he didn't have.  _Damn it, stupid hospital regulations._

"Shit," He backed quietly to the elevator.

There was no one else on the first floor. He noticed even more blood spots as he went.

His phone suddenly rang.

Several heads shot up from around the room, heads he hadn't noticed before. Suddenly he was pressed against the elevator doors, his phone ringing as he desperately shoved his hand into his pocket to shut it off. His other hand slapped at the elevator buttons.

The zombies stood and advanced on him. Their steps were uneven, as if they'd had too much to drink. Some of them stumbled, and all of them were covered in blood. Jake shuddered and suddenly fell back into the elevator as the doors slid open, he hit the 7th floor button as the creatures came closer and the doors slid shut before the zombies could even get a finger in.

He picked up the phone and dialed Leon back.

"Jake," said Leon into the phone. "I found something…."

"It's going to have to wait," Jake snapped into the phone. "There's a fucking zombie apocalypse at the hospital, I haven't found Sherry or Claire yet. You might want to call the boy scouts in." He meant the BSAA. Leon could hear the worry in his voice.

"Shit," Leon said. "Be right there, I'll make some calls…how bad is it?"

"On a scale of 1 to 10? You're looking at a 20. Might be another Raccoon City," Jake whispered into the phone. "I've got to go find Sherry."

"Jake…wait!" But Jake had disconnected and was dialing Claire's number as the elevator suddenly pinged that he was on the 7th floor.

The door slid open.

 

* * *

 

 

Claire's phone started to ring as she opened the door. Looking down at the hallway she noticed there wasn't a soul down the hallway but her ring tone echoed ominously. She glanced down at her phone and brought it up to her ear. It was Jake.

"Claire!" He sounded relieved. "Is Sherry ok?"

"We're fine," Claire said. "Everyone Is missing I can't figure out where they've all gone."

There was a pause oh the phone. "Claire it's fucking zombie central down at the bottom floor."

"What?" Claire stopped to consider this. She listened down the hall corridor to the empty silence. It was just like Raccoon City all over again.  _But why? Why here? Why now?_

"What's it like outside?"

"Normal day." Said Jake, "but we know that it won't last for long."

"Jake listen to me." Claire responded, "We have to bar the hospital and prevent anything from getting out. Do you understand?"

"I'm getting you and Sherry out." There was a tightness to his voice and Claire suddenly felt a pang of empathy for him.

"We're fine. Nothing is up here with us yet, where are you?"

"I'm out here on the 7th floor, outside the maternity doors. I was going to ask you to open the doors so I can get in…because you are definitely wrong about there not being anything up here."

"Damn." Claire stopped. He was already up here. There was not too much hope for keeping this contained then. She couldn't blame him. He was so close, he wasn’t going back now.

"Jake," She tried again, "we have to make sure nothing escapes the hospital."

"Leon is on his way," Jake finally said after a moment of silence. "he'll bring back up and anything else we need. He's the hero not me, got it?" Again, the desperate tone in his voice. Claire knew he wasn’t going to change his mind until he got to Sherry.

"Sherry is fine," Claire started as Sherry cried out in pain.

"What was that?" Jake asked, hearing the cry.

"She is in labor." Claire snapped. “No doctors here right now.”

"She's going to attract anything that's left in that wing. Lock her in her room and open the door. I'm literally outside of it, trying not to attract too much attention but believe me, there are plenty of fucking zombies up here to attract."

"Ok," she said. "Stay alive out there. See you in five."

She disconnected, closed the door and went back to Sherry.

"They're getting closer," she gasped.

"Ok, Sherry, I'm going to go let Jake in the maternity ward."

"Let him in? He’s here? Where's the doctor or nurses?"

Claire wasn't sure how to respond. "There's a problem…"

"He's here, somewhere in the building, isn't he?" The fear on her face was evident. They both knew who she meant. Albert Wesker, Jr. the clone they had run into, or if he had somehow gotten the original Albert Wesker to return from the grave. They had speculated but were not sure how this was going to be accomplished.

"There are infected in the hall."

Sherry froze. Raccoon City coming back to haunt her at the worst time ever.

"I'm going to let Jake in, he is outside the maternity ward, but I'm going to lock your door."

Sherry gasped suddenly as another wave of pain rushed over her.

"Push the bed by the door," She managed to growl out.

Claire nodded and moved the bed with Sherry gasping on it. "Engage the lock when I leave." Claire told her. "And…try not to give birth while till we get back?"

It was a joke, and Sherry managed a grin. She had learned the same dark sense of humor since having to deal with Umbrella, the BSAA, and being a DSO agent. It helped you cope.

Claire pushed open the door and left, and Sherry after a moment pushed herself up and turned the lock. Then she fell back against the pillows gritting her teeth as she prepared to ride out the next contraction alone.

"Did you, do it?" Claire said through the door and tried to turn the knob. It didn't open. Relieved, Claire looked down the hall. They were at the other end of the corridor. She had a gun and hoped it was enough.

It was 50 feet to the door, and she could see Jake through the opening. He looked relieved but kept glancing behind him. She glanced down the hall, her ears straining for a sound. When she heard nothing, she moved forward.

There were bloody hand prints on the floor. She shuddered but continued moving forward silently resisting the urge to just run to the door and open it. The silence was grating. If there were infected up here shouldn't there be some sort noise, at least you would hear where they were eating.

_How did we not hear any of this?_

Claire heard nothing as she moved towards the doors…until… There it was. A scrape of a chair being pushed out of the way and the dragging awkward steps. They were coming from the nurses' station. Claire peered around the corner to see a rather grisly scene.

The doctor was lying on his back on the floor and the nurses appeared to be having a bizarre ritual, pinning him to the floor as they surrounded him and tearing at his insides. His throat had been ripped out.  _Probably why we heard no screams,_  Claire thought. Another Nurse was staggering over to join them.

 _Oh God_ , thought Claire. She hoped that the other doors were locked, feeling slightly nauseated, she quietly moved past the station towards the door. She glanced back at the station making sure all the nurses were occupied and pushed the door open.

The door gave way with a click and Jake slid in closing the door behind him. This time the loud click did attract the attention of the infected nurses who all paused in their meal.

They rose as one and swung around to view the newcomers who'd interrupted them. Then with the staggering steps of those who's neurons were not necessarily firing correctly they slowly made their way around the counter with low growls and gurgling as they came in. Even the doctor's body started to twitch as the virus took over and attempted to reanimate it.

Claire glanced over at Jake and suddenly noticed he was already covered in blood in a few spots. "What happened to you?" She asked.

He looked over at her lifting an eyebrow. "There are zombies in the hospital and you're asking what happened?"

Claire shrugged. "We always called them infected. So, what happened?"

He was surprised at her casual tone and tried to match it, even as the cadre of evil dead nurses staggered towards them. "Had to fight my way off the elevator. They go down fast enough as long as you don't get cornered. Light shift today otherwise probably wouldn't have made it." He held up a broken, wooden, chair leg.

Suddenly he lunged forward and bashed the leg into the skull of the first nurse to reach them. She dropped to the floor in a heap, the next one falling over her body. Jake put a heavy boot into that one's head as hard as he could, crushing it down immediately with a crunch that made Claire behind him feel suddenly nauseous. Hours ago, these women were taking Sherry's vitals and joking with them about the baby that was about to be born.

 _No time for that now,_  she thought moving out from behind Jake. She had a knife and gun, but not wanting to attract more of the hospitals deadly inhabitants she followed his example and used the knife.

Jake towered over every infected in the room and he simply smashed through them, punching in the nose so forcefully that it knocked back into their skulls dropping them in heaps as he went. There were only the six out here with the doctor, who was moving now attempting to get off the floor.

Claire moved to him and sunk her knife into his eye socket as Jake dropped the last nurse stabbing her under the chin.

He shuddered in front of her and she realized he was not taking this scene as easily as she first thought. As he turned and glanced at her to make sure she was all right she noted that his face looked gray.

"Haven't seen everything just yet?"

"I don't know why they keep surprising me with something else," he muttered in reply. There were no other infected in the hall here.

"Let's get to Sherry and then we'll check on the others." Claire was moving forward.

"Others?"

"Well there were three other women here this weekend," Claire replied. They moved down the hallway and Jake knocked on the door belonging to Sherry.

He turned to Claire, "Why isn't she answering?"

"Give her a minute," said Claire, "she was maybe three minutes apart when I came out here."

Jake shot a panicked look at Claire. "Three minutes?"

They both heard Sherry cry out and Claire was suddenly glad that Jake had shown up. At this rate they would have had all the nurses in their room. The maternity ward doors would keep the rest of the hospital infected out. There was no getting in without a passcode of sorts.

"Just…a…sec…." Sherry gasped out. Outside the door Jake tensed. His fists clenched together.

"Come on Super Girl," he whispered the nickname like a prayer to the door, his eyes closed.

Then suddenly the lock clicked and he was pushing the door open before Claire had even moved.

"Sherry," Jake took her in his arms before stepping back to take a look at her. Her face was red from the pain and there were tears in her eyes.

"Sorry," she got out. "I wasn't sure if you were coming back…I" She gasped again and Jake could swear he could see her belly tensing up. Claire was at her side in an instant.

"Breathe," she said soothingly.

"Breathe?" Sherry snapped at her. "Aaahh," She gritted her teeth against the pain. She wanted to get up and move around and lay down on her side, and die all at the same time. The pain was becoming unbearable, but she could also feel a burning sensation as the baby began to make her way down and out of the birth canal.

Jake stood and stared at Sherry for a moment completely lost. It took him a moment to realize that Claire was yelling at him.

"Jake!"

"What do I do?" He held up his hands. He could kill zombies, monsters, you name it. Here he was completely out of his league.

"Close and lock the door." Claire said. "Then grab one of those blue towels there. You are going to catch your daughter Mr. Muller."

"What? Now?" Jake locked the door and then grabbed a towel as Claire moved Sherry towards the edge of her bed.

"You sure you don't want to do this in the tub?" Claire was asking Sherry.

"There is no time." Sherry gasped and suddenly began to bear down.

"Slow down," Claire tried, only to have Sherry snap.

"Fuck you! Slow down? She's coming. Now!" She pushed harder halfway sitting up, uttering a few more swear words that surprised even Jake.

Jake was crouched at the end of the table between Sherry's legs. His fearful expression suddenly changed from panicked to awe. "She's coming," he called his voice reflecting his fear, spreading out the towel. "I can see her head."

"Keep pushing," Claire was trying to be encouraging. Sherry was squeezing her hands in a death grip.

Sherry pushed hard, with a scream, and suddenly the head was free, Jake caught little Anja Muller in a mess of blood and water, onto the blue towel. Slowly the rest of the baby girl came forward until the shoulders were free and then Jake bundled her into the towel. He swiftly brought her up into his arms and stared forgetting for a moment that he’d just killed six zombie nurses to get here. It wasn’t until Anja started to cry that he realized the danger they were still in. He laid her on Sherry’s chest.  _And the child has a set of lungs that would bring every zombie on the entire planet surging into this one room_ , Jake thought, feeling proud and afraid at the same time.

Sherry still surging from an adrenaline rush put her hands out and leaned back as Jake laid the baby in her arms. For the moment he just stared at them both, and then realized he was still covered in blood from the infected he'd battled just to get here.

 _Well shit_ , he thought,  _nothing like baptizing your newborn in the blood of your enemies on her first day._  He ran to the sink and started scrubbing his hands and arms. The shirt he couldn't do much about right now.

He turned back to Sherry and Claire. "Shouldn't we cut the cord or something?"

 


	6. This should be fun (5)

“Redfield here.”

“Chris. It’s me.”

“Leon? What’s wrong?”

“Yeah,” Leon rubbed the back of his neck. “That thing that we were worried about happening? I think it’s starting…”

Chris didn’t answer right away. “Give me a location and we’ll be on our way.” By we, he meant himself and Jill. And his current unit. Jill had managed staying out of work for as long as she could but between being bored and the fact that B.O.W.s were being a common occurrence. The BSAA needed all hands-on deck. And Jill was one of the best hands they had.

Leon relayed the location and ended the call. The hospital in question was a few hours away by plane. He pondered the timing and decided it was probably not ironic at all but completely planned. When dealing with Wesker, the man never left anything to chance. But how could he know the timing of Sherry’s labor? Or was it completely an accident? Were they meant to find the clones?  He knew that there were several clones in custody besides the ones he and Jake had uncovered. The fact that they could produce the clones so quickly was disturbing.  He remembered the incident with Ada and her clone. 

It had been vague, but he eventually discovered he’d been chasing and protecting the clone of Ada in China. One who wouldn’t have hesitated to turn him into a B.O.W. He should have guessed it wasn’t her.  But the discovery of how quickly they were turning clones out hadn’t been made yet. He wouldn’t have believed it.

He had not been able to reach Ada by any means as of late. That worried him more than he was going to admit. It alone told him Wesker was probably back in some form or another. Ada knew too much about everything. _We’re going up against the real people in charge._  She hadn’t elaborated, and he hadn’t expected her to. She never did. She was never free with her information, she always talked in riddles.

But she had saved his life more than once, and he was fairly certain a few times that he had escaped out of what appeared to be sheer luck.

He put her out of his mind and focused on the problem at hand. He had arrived and it was time to get moving.

Local law enforcement had been called in to seal the hospital off without going inside, they'd been told there was a viral outbreak inside and to seal the doors. CDC had ordered a quarantine. They’d gone through CDC to avoid the panic that announcing B.O.W.s brought. There were always a few morons who wanted to snap a photo of the creatures. They usually ended up dead. No one would have guessed the true nature of what was going on. Not until Leon showed up and flashed his badge at least. He was fairly certain Jake had just walked in, thinking he was going to be taking a baby home.

He didn't see anything unusual outside of the city. His relief was short-lived though when he noticed the amount of news helicopters hovering in the area.

“Well, shit.” He parked his rental car in the street and simply walked through to the first officer on the scene.

"Anything?" He asked flashing his badge, the man paled when he saw the Division of Security Operations Badge. Leon frowned, he hoped that the Officer wouldn’t panic. The Department of Security Operations wasn’t a well-known entity until recently. But then again, the recent outbreaks in the past few years might have gained them some attention. They had become a common occurrence in other parts of the world. Even the BSAA were as well-known at the US Armed forces these days. And just as loved.

Leon was armed to the teeth, but he knew he'd probably be using his knife mostly. Claire had mentioned it was like Raccoon City all over again. He wondered if she noted the irony of having himself, Sherry and Jake there. Chris would be here eventually. If Wesker and a few others showed up it would be one happy family reunion. 

Jake had probably gone in guns blazing making a bloody trail all the way to Sherry. Leon shook his head. The younger man's ability to survive had amazed even him. He knew some of it was from the C-virus. He also knew Jake didn’t like to talk about it.

"Sir," the officer had tapped him on the shoulder. "The building is secure; we have been told to wait outside."

"I'm going in." Leon stared up at the hospital, noting its central location in the city. 

"But-" The Officer started to protest.

"This is my job," said Leon giving him a smile. "It's what I'm trained for." The police officer looked at Leon again and backed up. Leon was wearing civilian attire currently but he was wearing his green vest, loaded with weaponry, guns in two hip holsters, two in shoulder holsters, a large knife attached to the front. The only things that were missing were explosives. He’d left those behind.

There were Marines and BSAA en route but Leon decided to go in first. He wanted to make sure Jake and Sherry didn't get shot by mistake. Their identities were at stake here. If the wrong person spotted them, another manhunt could ensue. If they were shot and healed up on the scene, that was another headache they didn’t need. In his mind, he was trying to put together the scene with the clones and the fact that the same hospital Sherry happened to be in was chocked full of infected.

_No, definitely not a coincidence at all. So how did they know Sherry was going into labor?_

He opened the front door. "Bar this behind me," he said to the two cops who'd followed him.

He heard it clang shut and winced. If the place was crawling with the undead they'd be on him in minutes. Hopefully Jake had cleared some of the mess.

He stared at the lobby area. Blood was everywhere. He heard a few sounds and knew that somewhere the infected were coming. He started forward.

Seven floors between him and his partner. This should be fun.


	7. Seven floors to get down, and then what? (6)

_Seven floors to get down_ , Jake thought.  _And then what?_

Sherry had described Raccoon City to him. At least as much as he could coax out of her. The rest he'd read about. It wasn't pretty. The city had been bombed clean of infected, no one was allowed to live there now. And now it was happening here.

He had also never seen the "infected" Sherry had described until now. They resembled every classic movie Zombie movie that he paused to wonder if that had been the intention. Leon had mentioned seeing them on the streets of China. He and Sherry had managed to make it through that entire ordeal without encountering a single one. Not that there had not been plenty of other creatures to keep them occupied.

_Why here though?_

His phone beeped. It was a text from Leon.  _In building._

Claire groaned. “Leon thinks he’s a one man army, she muttered.

Jake grinned. He had been partnered with Leon for the past few months. Leon had called it "on the job" training. They got along well in one respect; Jake was just as reckless as Leon was. They got the job done, sometimes in style. But not always. Hunnigan had commented and complained more than once on the risks she thought they were taking. But the jobs got done, B.O.W.s taken out and she left it at that.

But seven floors with Sherry and an infant? Jake shuddered. Sherry would smell of blood. There was just no getting around the fact. She had just given birth and would probably bleed for the next few weeks. Assuming they all survived. Her healing had made her mobile quickly but that didn't stop other natural biological processes. Giving birth wasn’t a sickness after all.

“Here,” He pulled Sherry up and walked her into the bathroom. Claire stayed back not saying a word, just holding Anja.

Jake turned the water on and when it was warm enough Sherry stepped in, he scrubbed her gently. “Sorry,” he whispered. “But the less you smell like you’ve given birth, the better your chances.”

“You don’t really think they can smell me?” Sherry asked, water streaming down her face.

“Given everything else we’ve encountered?” Jake switched the water off and guided her out. “I’m not leaving it up to chance.” He toweled her off.

“Jake, I’m not made of glass.” She whispered.

He stopped and pulled her close. “Sorry, I know that. I know you aren’t like other women, literally. But…I just walked through a zombie infested hospital. And I have to get you out. So, let me have this ok?”

She stared at him for a moment. “OK.”

He opened the bathroom door and picked her up and carried her out. He gently set her on the bed still wrapped in a towel and pulled her clothes out, ignoring Claire completely. He handed her the bra and then the shirt, going back into the bathroom for another towel he came out and dried her hair. Behind his back, Claire’s eyebrows had shot up. Sherry shook her head, a small smile on her face even as she put her clothes on.

“You ready?” He finally said, looking her in the eye. She only nodded.

“We are reasonably safe here,” Claire started.

“We’re not—” Jake and Sherry both said at the same time.

“If Wesker wasn’t out there, I wouldn’t risk getting her out.” Jake finished eyeing Sherry.

“But that could be what he wants.” Claire pointed out still holding Anja.

“This is a kind of damned if we, damned if we don’t situation.” Sherry pushed herself off the bed. “We could stay, he could get us. We could go, and hope for the best.”

“Or it could be another message.” Jake started to wrap the makeshift baby sling around himself.

“What are you doing?” Sherry grabbed it. “I’ll carry her.”

“I think I should do it.”

“How will you feed her if we get separated. I’m a bit more equipped for that…”

“We’re not going to get separated.”

Sherry switched tactics. “How will you fight with a baby strapped to your chest.”

Jake deflated a little. “I’ll manage.”

“We’ll manage better if you are hands free.” Sherry smiled and put a gentle hand on him. “I’ll carry her. We’ll follow you out.” She nodded at Claire.

 He conceded the point. But the sudden stiffness in his shoulders told Sherry he still didn’t like the idea.

Claire for her part had observed them quietly, holding Anja all without a word. It had taken a while for her to accept Jake, especially considering who his father had been. He still bore the slight resemblance enough that she would never be truly comfortable but she was convinced that he loved Sherry. And for the moment, it was enough. She was the one that Sherry credited with giving people second chances. In this one instance though, she always kept her guard up. She couldn’t help it.

 _Seven floors_ , Jake thought again, returning to the present problem. He glanced behind himself at the two women with him. Waiting for rescue was not option. They did not know what was going on, on the outside. Or whether or not this was just a mess to get at Sherry or possibly Anja. Jake was determined to not let that happen. No matter what.

"Ready?" He wasn’t ready to leave the room and face the infected again but the need to get his small family to safety was forcing his hand.

"Ready." Sherry nodded to him. Anja was strapped securely in place to her chest no bigger than a loaf of bread. Sherry was also carrying a small backpack filled with diapers, wipes and pads. A knife was tucked into her belt of the jeans. You wouldn’t have guessed she’d just given birth.

He glanced at them both for a long moment. Fear gripped him so completely that for the moment he could not turn and open the door. He simply looked at Sherry taking her in like a dying man needing water. He took a deep breath.

"It's now or never," Sherry whispered to him, reading him like a book. She put a hand on his arm again and squeezed it reassuringly.

He shrugged and slowly opened the door glancing out down the hallway, simultaneously thanking the Almighty, he couldn't quite bring himself to believe in, that the hinges were silent for once.

"We'll check the other rooms," He said to Claire.

"Survivors?" Sherry asked.

"I don't know," Jake replied. "If I wasn't worried about Wesker showing up, we wouldn't be attempting this at all."

"He won't be after the others," Claire said. "Let's at least warn them to stay in their rooms for now."

"The whole maternity section is down." Jake said. "But once we leave it will be fucking chaos in the rest of the hospital. At least that was the first floor when I came in."

The first door was they tried was empty. Jake pried open the second door and was greeted a scene so macabre he closed the door immediately and refused to let Sherry or Claire look in. "They're all dead," was all he managed.

Sherry and Claire exchanged glances but didn't argue.

Jake attempted the next door but it was locked. He rapped on the door. "Hey, anyone in there?"

"Is it over?" A young man opened the door and Jake could see he was petrified.

"Fraid not," Jake said. "Stay in here, help is on the way. The maternity section is sealed off. Nothing will get in here without codes."

"Wait where are you going?" The young man came forward. Jake shoved him back.

"Checking for survivors." Jake replied. "Keep this locked." He pulled the door closed again before the young man could protest. He didn't have time to help the young man get his own family out and they were safer here. No one would be safe following them out right now.

The other two rooms were not so fortunate. Jake had to kill an infected woman who was moving about in one of them, her newborn baby in pieces hanging from her mouth.

"Damn, I hate Neo-Umbrella," he said under his breath. He hated them, hated his father, it was almost a mantra he'd repeated many times over the past few months. He wiped the sweat off his brow as he didn't bother to check the last room. The occupant had died in the doorway and she was wedged there, apparently, she had tried to make a run for it.

 _At least she wasn't a Zombie_ , he thought.

Soon they were at the exit doors where Claire had let Jake in earlier. He peered through the windows and out into the halls. Empty…but that didn't mean much in a situation like this.

Claire and Sherry stood keeping an eye behind him.

He paused and then made an observation. "It's almost like she knows to keep quiet," Jake said suddenly without looking at Anja.

"Are you serious?" Sherry countered. "She's just a baby. Babies sleep."

"Well a smart one." Jake replied looking straight ahead. "Daddy is proud already." It was weird saying that himself. He knew he was going to be a father for the past 9 months.  You would think the idea would have sunk in by now. But with Anja actually here. It felt different.

"Just wait until you're up all night with her," Claire’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

"And your experience with babies is….?" Jake let the sentence hang in the air. Claire had devoted herself to taking down Neo-Umbrella, Albert Wesker, etc. Little of which had left her time for making a family.

She remained silent and glared at the back of his head, letting him know the barb had struck home. Jake felt a little guilty but pushed that aside. "Alright already," he moved on. They were having an amazing amount of luck so far. So much that Jake didn't trust it. "Let's get to the elevator." He swept a glance around again making sure there were no more surprises than the usual and opened the heavy maternity doors.

An Ustanak would have preferable to the Zombies, he decided inwardly. At least they didn't rip your guts out and eat them. Ustanaks were just big, strong, and ugly. Hard as hell to kill…but they took orders just like J'Avo. They were smart, and still a person, he couldn’t quite bring himself to say human. The last two he’d encountered had emotions, anger, sadness, and the first one knew how to switch its own weapons up as needed. There was some amount of intelligence there that was more than an animal.

There was just something horrifying about Zombies, or infected as Sherry called them. Even the creatures he had encountered in Edonia were preferable. Strelats, Napads, and lickers, they were basically animals doing what animals do.

Zombies were dead men. Dead men who wouldn't die and wanted to take you with them. They kept going when they should have laid down and died.

The hall was empty and surprisingly they made it to the elevator with no problems.

"This is too easy." Jake muttered. "I don't like this."

"Be thankful." Said Claire as she punched a button. She half expected it not to work, Jake had said there were infected in the halls but where were they?

"Listen," said Jake suddenly. There was a low moaning sound followed by the sound of tearing. Claire had started forward but Jake grabbed her arm. She shook his hand off. "It's too late for them," he said softly. "They are not even alive still."

It was true, she knew but Claire still wanted to go out there and mow down the infected. Jake brought her back to reality. "Let's get Sherry out of here…then if you want, we can come back and clean house."

Claire nodded.

Suddenly the elevator pinged and the doors opened.


	8. Distractions

Leon stared at the elevator door as it opened, not sure what he was going to find on the 7th floor. He’d thought of taking the stairs but decided against it. His heart was pounding as the doors slid open, his gun up out in front of him.

And pointed right into Jake’s chest. 

Jake cracked a grin at him as Leon lowered the gun in a hurry. All three of them were there, relief flooded Leon like a tidal wave.

"Get in!" Jake growled grabbing Sherry's arm and pushing her inside. They all rushed in just as the infected made their way around the corner, attracted by the noise. The doors sliding closed before the first one could reach them. 

"Well this is the most uneventful job ever," Leon said checking his gun.

"What it's like downstairs?" Jake asked.

"I may have taken out a few here and there," said Leon. "Calvary is probably already downstairs."

"No problems?" Claire was surprised but relieved to see Leon. She hugged him and then stepped back just in time to see Sherry lift an eyebrow before turning away, a small smile on her face. Claire knew she was going to get grief for that later. At this point, she would welcome it if it meant they got out of here in one piece.

The doors pinged open and at the same time Anja began to stir against Sherry's chest.

There was a blood trail in front of the doorway and boot prints. Leon shrugged. "We won't have an issue getting out." He handed Claire a gun. “Remember how to use this?”

Claire nodded. She and Leon stepped out together both facing in opposite directions. There were plenty of infected here and she shot the first one as it staggered toward her. Alone the infected were hardly a danger, the problem lay in their numbers. No one else had stepped inside yet.

"Run." Leon said.

"Time to go!" Jake took Sherry's hand and pulled her towards the front door at a fast pace.

They hit the glass on the front doors which were still barred. Leon pulled up front and flashed his badge suddenly. The door was opened immediately and the same officer who Leon had run into earlier was there again. "The only survivors?"

"No," said Jake, "there are others in the maternity ward. Made them stay locked in their rooms."

The officer stared up at Jake as he towered over him. Immediately Jake flashed his own Division of Security Operations badge. The affect was immediate, the younger officer backed off and away. 

Jake turned around immediately and pulled Sherry against him in a hug resting his chin on her head.

Suddenly Anja started to cry.

There were camera flashes all around. The Media had made it in not close yet but just outside the perimeter. But Jake knew the cameras were probably getting plenty of shots of them from all angles.

Jake kept his back to them shielding Sherry as she pulled Anja from her sling.

"You think I could try to feed her somewhere a little more private?" She asked Leon.

There were marines everywhere and groups of BSAA operatives huddled together outside. People recognized the insignias began backing away in a hurry.

"I think the calvary has arrived," said Jake. "Maybe they'll lend us a van."

Leon was silent for a moment; his face was troubled. "That was too easy," he said finally glancing at Claire to see if she agreed.

"Easy?" Sherry asked. Anja was squirming now.

But Jake was nodding. "This was a walk in the park next to China or Edonia. Or anything else we've run into the past week."

Leon’s expression was thoughtful. "I think we were just provided the biggest distraction Wesker could think of." He was moving them towards the vans.

Chris ran up suddenly. "Leon, you got a minute?"

"Chris. You’re late.” Chris snorted back a laugh. He glanced behind himself to where Jill was waiting for the go orders.

Leon moved towards Chris while Claire and Jake moved Sherry into a waiting van.

"Yeah, what is it?"

The older clone you found, the one who didn't know anything? He just died…"

"Died?"

"Collapsed in on himself, I don't think he was supposed to survive for very long…"

"And the boy?"

"Gone."

"Gone?"

Chris nodded. "I don't know, but I think the kid knew more than he let on. During the transition, the older clone started coughing and then just died. The boy disappeared in the confusion."

"Are you sure he didn't die as well?" Leon groaned inwardly. Jake was not going to like this.

“We’re sure. Cam footage caught him walking away. Where to? Not sure.”

Jake joined them nodding a greeting to Chris. It had taken some time but the two had buried the hatchet after Jake had found out that Chris had killed his biological father, Albert Wesker. Hell, Jake still had moments where he wished he'd been the one to pull the trigger. He couldn't think of a worse man to be associated with. Let alone be the son of. Chris had done him a favor.

"Survivors?" Chris said, changing the subject.

"One family upstairs," Jake responded, "Locked in room 708. Didn't see anyone else though. But we didn’t really look either."

Chris nodded and moved away, but turned back when Leon called to him.

"Chris…you realize this was just a distraction, right?"

"Hell of a distraction, Leon. But… That’s what Jill thinks. Or she said it was probably another message. I agree with her.”

“So,” Jake asked them both. “If this is just the distraction, or the message,” he gave a short nod to Chris. “What else happened while we were busy?”


	9. Realized Too Late

The light blinded her as she opened her eyes. She closed them tightly again dragging a hand over her face to shield her face as she tried opening them again.

As her vision adjusted, she realized the room really wasn’t that bright. In fact, the drab gray walls only added to the charm. She was in a square prison cell of sorts.

Ada Wong groaned and pulled herself to sit on the cot she was stretched across. She felt grimy as if she badly needed a shower. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and glanced down at herself.

 _Nurses scrubs?_  She grimaced. It had to have been a joke for her captor. Bright pink top and turquoise pants with white socks to match. At least her bra was still in place.

They had stripped her and searched her while unconscious.  _Interesting._  Part of her wanted to feel violated, another part of her wanted to commend them for being so thorough. They hadn't drugged her mind, however, and in Ada's experience, her mind was the best tool for any job. She laid back onto the cot and studied the cell to figure out her predicament.

A toilet was located in the room in the opposite corner. That wasn't too much of a decoration. A camera lens was located above it. It sat molded into the wall, almost flush with the gray concrete. She stared at it for a moment before looking towards the door. There was no window outside. Just the rough outline

"Glad to see you are finally awake." Wesker Jr.'s voice floated to her from a small screen located in the wall. He looked so much like the original Ada felt a chill. He even wore the dark sun glasses and had his blonde hair slicked back in the same manner. His face filled the small screen. He had startled her but she managed not to jump. Her eyes were drawn to the camera lens again. Depending on how this went, she was either in trouble here or an asset. There was no reason to recall her from his previous assignment to her unless he’d assumed she was procrastinating.

"What am I doing here?" She sat up, did her best to sound bored. It was useless to show fear. Whatever was about to happen, would happen.

"Ah, straight to the point. Good, I'm embarking on a new matter and could do without your interference for a bit."  _Interesting._

"Sherry Birkin?"

"She can wait for the moment."

Ada filed this away.  _Something more important than Sherry Birkin's G-Virus?_  She settled into her cot mentally steeling herself for the wait.

"No arguments?"

"Would they work?"

"Probably not."

"Waste of time and energy then." She lay back. "Reading material might be nice for the duration though. If you don't mind."

For a moment, Wesker was taken back but he nodded. "But of course, I'll send you something you may find interesting." His face disappeared from the screen and it went dark.

Ada sighed and lay back. She had survived this long by not losing her mind. Even captured there was always a way out if you waited for the right moment. She wasn't dead yet so she assumed he still needed her for some reason.

She shuddered. As long as no one was making another clone of her somewhere. That had been disturbing, to see her own face so consumed with anger. She still had a few enemies out there who hated what the clone had done, not realizing they were not the same person.

Ada felt a slight pang of remorse. She was in here to keep her from bungling whatever was happening with Sherry. Leon wouldn't approve and she had to choose between the two. She had kept him at a distance for a reason. This kind of job required no strings attached, especially the more knowledge you acquired about who you were dealing with. You would be putting their lives in danger the second you started to care about what happened to them.

She had encountered Leon one too many times. How many times had they rescued each other?

Apparently, she hadn’t done a good enough job at appearing solo and uncaring in the line of duty.

The Family. They were an interesting group. Ada wondered if they would consider the Clones of Wesker a new threat or simply watch with interest. The senior Albert Wesker never left anything to chance with them. They never got close enough to him to gun him down as they had done with Simmons.

Her time in China had been interesting, to say the least. She had saved Jake and Sherry, twice although they never knew who had fired those shots. She preferred to keep it that way. That the man immune to the C-Virus was Wesker’s natural biological son was a surprise. That he was working to dismantle his father’s legacy? She wished him good hunting on that part.

But with his brother/clone of his father out there, Albert Wesker, the cloned version wanted Sherry all to himself.  _To what end?_

_No competition._

A free Sherry walking the streets could be taken by anybody. Samples distributed…that made a little more sense to Ada. You followed the money trail.

But Ada wasn't going anywhere for the moment and for the time being appeared safe despite her supposed "interference." She relaxed for a moment and closed her eyes. So, what could be more important than obtaining the mutated virus in Sherry's system?

 ** _Project Resurrection._**  Her eyes flew open. She nearly shot up off the bed when the realization struck. Wesker was planning on making a comeback after all. And the odds were good she would have interfered. She'd felt nothing when she learned he had been killed by the BSAA agent Chris Redfield. She'd been surprised that the C-Virus antibodies host had been his son, mostly because when had Wesker slowed down enough to have sex with a woman, let alone get one pregnant? And then not know about it? A man who was that meticulous? None of that made sense.

The clones made sense. Wesker had been an arrogant bastard. A son or any lineage would not have been good enough. The files she'd handed over to Leon only mentioned Project Resurrection in passing. They were mostly about the cloning process and that it was designed as a start to a project they might never need or get into later.

 

No, the only person Wesker had trusted was himself. 


	10. Chapter 10

*Sorry for taking so long to update. I'm preparing to have surgery, I'm almost at a crossroads for the direction this story is going to go in, so bear with me as I get through my notes!* (Also shout out to Silex for his helpful suggestions! I'm eternally grateful!)

 

Leon sat across from Claire in a truck just outside the hospital. Jake and Sherry had been gone for a few hours. A detail had been assigned to watch their apartment. 

"It had to have been a distraction," Leon muttered. It was just a guess. There was no way to know when Sherry would have her baby. So it couldn't have been the discovery of the clones.

"From what?" Claire was all seriousness. She would have gone back with Sherry but Leon had held her back. One look at Jake had convinced him that Claire was probably the worst thing that could happen to them now. They needed to be alone. As much as they could be.

Leon could only shrug. Most of the infected had been taken care of. There were a lot of survivors. Plenty of people who were going to need therapy. Relatively speaking it had been a small event. Much smaller than anything he'd had to deal with. While there were plenty of casualties, this was a better outcome than most.

"I don't know," Leon admitted. "But it doesn't feel right. It was too easy."

Claire only lifted an eye brow at him.

"Oh please," Leon eyed her. "IF Sherry had not been carrying her newborn…the four of us could have cleared that place. Easy."

"Says the one-man army." Claire rolled her eyes.

Leon sat back. "The clones, this outbreak…"

"None were the first clone we encountered?"

"No…we haven't seen him yet."

"The latest?"

"Still a child…"

"And he's already disappeared?"

Leon sat back and nodded. "Jake was not comfortable with him. I could tell, I wish we'd had a minute to talk about it, but then we got the call and everything happened."

"He's always one step ahead. "Claire muttered to herself.

* * *

 

 

"I want you to go into hiding while Leon and I figure this out." Jake broached the thought as soon as they were in the door of their apartment. He'd waited because there was an audience outside. Both BSAA and DSO were stationed out there. The argument was bound to be heated. 

"What?" Sherry, still carrying Anja, stopped in front of him, he placed his hands on her shoulders to keep from running into her.

"I think…" Jake started again but Sherry turned around and stared up at him. Her anger was evident, red faced and eyes flashing, any other time he would have been amused as he looked down at her.  _Not today, not after the hospital._

"No."

"Sherry, this isn't a good time to argue about it."

"Then don't argue with me when I say no." She moved away from him then and laid Anja down on their couch and turned to face him. "I'm an agent."

"What about Anja?" Jake's question made Sherry slow down for a moment. They hadn't figured out if Anja was normal or not. If anything from their respective viruses had carried down to the newborn. The odds were high that she would inherit something from them. That made her a potential target as well. A target that most likely the Wesker clone had noticed by now.

Leaving their baby with anyone would potentially put that person in harm's way. Not to mention that would be just one more person who knew about Anja.

Sherry sighed. Jake was right and she hated him for it.

"Do you think she has…" She let the sentence drop. Jake was staring at her from across the room. His hands clenching at his sides, his expression answering her question before she finished it.

She dropped her head and he moved swiftly to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest.

"We both know it's likely she does." He said stroking her hair. He held her for a while, afraid to let her go. He sighed. "Sherry, please do this for me." He dropped to his knee so he could look her in the eye. "I can't... I can't do what I think we'll need to do. I..." He stopped. "I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. I don't want them to use you against me. I won't be able to say no. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

"Fine." Sherry leaned into him. They both knew they weren't going to have a normal life. It didn't matter due to things beyond their control. Right down to their DNA, the Viruses that had altered them, the people who were no longer alive who had started it all. Deep down she knew he was right. And if they wanted anything like normal, it would mean destroying everything their fathers had created. She didn't mention to Jake, that everything their father's created included the two of them and Anja. The cost was more than she could think about.

 

Sherry had settled Anja in a small crib next to their bed in their room that night. It was pushed up next to the bed. While Sherry had a baby room next to them in their small two room apartment the days’ events led her to buy a new crib altogether and sticking it in their room. 

But he was also dreading telling her that he was going out on assignment with Leon sooner rather than later to figure out what the hell was going on. 

She looked tired for once as she climbed into bed and he slipped in beside her keeping an eye on her as she turned over and looked at Anja. 

“Hey, you ok?” He asked tentatively.

“I’m fine,” she said, turning over and staring at his face.  Everything he read there said she was not fine. Sherry rarely managed to look tired but right now she exhausted and worried. “Tell me what happened.” She said.

Jake hesitated and then slowly told her what Leon had said about the hospital attack being a simple distraction.  No new outbreaks outside the hospital had been reported and the infected had been dealt with, with no further spread.  There were quite a few survivors this time although the hospital was closed for repairs. There was talk of demolishing the building itself.

“A distraction?” She repeated staring at the ceiling. 

“Was that like Raccoon City?” He asked suddenly.

She turned to face him. “Those infected there…they had those, only it was everyone. Not just…random strangers. People you knew and talked to everyday…” Sherry trailed off.  “My Father-“ here she did stop to regain her composure and Jake reached down and took her hand.

“We don’t have to talk about it,” he said, concerned, “I didn’t mean to bring it up again.”

“It’s ok,” Sherry said turning back to look him in the face.  “Let’s just say it was like that and worse. So many more infected…and my parents were helping to create that…  I-“

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Jake said suddenly. “They were helping my Father, remember…which makes this situation here a little ironic.” He swung his head in a circle indicating their lives, their new daughter, and the fact that they were together in general. “Besides,” he said tilting her chin up to him to look her in the eye. “Someone once told me my Father’s actions had nothing to do with me. She was right.”

Sherry snickered suddenly remembering the dressing down she given Jake after he’d complained about being like his father when they were on the run. “True.” She smiled at him in the dim light. “I think I need a little distraction myself…”

He frowned. “Are you sure, I mean I just literally caught our daughter today…and…”

Sherry grabbed his pants in a strong grip suddenly, “Jake I swear if you say another word and don’t kiss me, I may kill you in your sleep tonight.”

Jake wisely stopped talking and leaned over and kissed her.  Her healing ability did have some benefits.

 

* * *

 

 

Jake and Leon were sitting in the kitchen of Leon's house. The decorations were Spartan as Leon rarely spent time there.

Leon gave Jake a hard look. "Look, I've been doing this for a long time. Believe me, this can always get worse." He was thinking of his time in the Eastern Slave Republic. It wasn't that far from Edonia, where Jake had been born. Both countries had been torn apart by civil war and the heavy use of B.O.W.s by one side or the ESR had been a nightmare. Not that anything after that had been easy, his friend the president having been killed, the subsequent battle with Simmons, crash landing in China. But Leon knew the technology they were dealing with was quite extensive. In the ESR he'd seen the B.O.W.s being controlled like dogs. They'd even been used to rescue him more than once. He thought of the man there who had saved him. The guy was wheelchair bound now, but in the end they'd gotten what the rebels had wanted. That man was teaching now. 

"Imagine lickers, strelats, napads," he said stumbling a little over the Serbian words.

"Jake picked up the Serbian readily as it was fairly close to his own mother tongue, Edonian.

"Strelats, Napads, lickers, oh my!" He paused. "So?"

"So, they aren't even close to the worst thing ever."

"I've seen HAOS," Jake replied. "I know they can make things much worse."

"HAOS? Nah, that was a piece of cake," Leon shrugged going for a coffee mug and then pouring whiskey into it. He turned back, a serious look on his face. "Don't tell Chris I ever said that."

Jake only shrugged. It was not like he and Chris Redfield were best friends. Besides he had seen and battled plenty of monsters.

Leon continued. "They've got weapons that you can the control the B.O.W.s with. How do you think they managed to control so many J'Avo? Almost Instantly?"

Jake shrugged. He wanted to ask why it didn't work on him, but that would be acknowledging that he'd been injected by Neo-Umbrella, twice. He hadn't talked about it, not even with Sherry, the one person he trusted more than anyone else. He wasn't ready to admit anything.

"They have the technology for that kind of control. I'm sure that Carla Radames was using it." Leon continued. His experiences with the nightmarish Plaga parasites fresh on his mind. There were plenty of things they could be playing with now.

"She was an experiment herself, wasn't she?" Jake asked. Sherry had briefly given him a run down on other events that happened in China. The woman who had given him the C-Virus shot in the first place. The one who had also told him who his father had been. He shuddered.

"Leon nodded. "Trust me," said Leon. "The Ustanak is just the beginning of their arsenal. And they never learn that the B.O.W.s are a bad idea."

Jake stared grimly ahead. Both thrilled and horrified with what they were about to face. He loved his job. But this was different, they were the target. He understood B.O.W.s. His unit had been completely turned into J'Avo almost a year ago, he'd faced an Ustanak on several occasions, and by some miracle, he was still breathing. Hell, he'd even been given a dose of the C-virus and due to his unfortunate inherited genetics from his father, he'd been enhanced. It was the only helpful gift Wesker had left him.

He wasn't about to explain that to Leon either.

Nor was he going to admit his own fears. That he was no longer human, that if injured he could possibly turn into a monster. Some men would kill to have the abilities that Jake did. Jake just wanted to make sure he was still human. If it wasn't for Sherry Jake would have been reckless, possibly not worrying about whether he would come back. But in the back of his mind, he always wanted to return for her sake. Because he knew already the arguments she would make and how much she passionately believed in them. And he loved her for it.

Speaking of Sherry. "She's packing up with Claire's help," He said changing the subject.

"Going into hiding?" Leon was surprised. He should have suggested it himself but the last time anyone had brought it up was when Sherry had been targeted by a kidnapping before. She'd refused to hide and ended up killing an Ustanak before it was all over.

"The baby changes things," Jake followed Leon's thoughts and shrugged. Leaving her even to come see Leon and go over plans with him had been hard.

"I'm just surprised you are not going with her." Leon had mostly thought them inseparable until Sherry's pregnancy had caught up with her. On missions, Jake was moody when they weren't working. Always eager to get back home. Leon hadn't blamed him.

"She wasn't happy about it," Jake continued. "But she doesn't trust the government to hide them, and after what happened before I don't blame her."

"So where is she going?"

"She'll take a flight with Chris."

"Chris? He's got enough contacts worldwide," muttered Leon.

"Yeah well, apparently, the boy scouts believe she's still wanted," Jake said. "Sherry was the liaison between the BSAA and the DOS because she knows everyone. But she knew they were all just babysitting her. Waiting for something to happen."

"Leon nodded, his fingers drummed the table. It made sense." So, she's going to them?"

"She trusts the boyscout." Jake did too. But he wasn't going to admit it out loud. He crossed his arms and stretched his legs.

"And we'll find that clone in the meantime," Leon leaned forward. "Jake are you sure? That you want to come with me, I mean? You don't want to be protecting Sherry?"

Jake hesitated but he nodded. He stood taking in Leon's spartan house decor again. "That's the plan. I'm heading out to see her off."

"I'll come to if anything to get Claire out of the way for a little bit."

Jake grinned. "I appreciate that."


	11. Chapter 11

Sherry’s heart sank as she eyed the helicopters on the landing pad. The sky was just lighting up to the east casting long shadows past her. Each step was bringing her closer to separation from Jake. This time would be very different from the normal job. Sherry hesitated. This was happening too fast. Too soon.

She tightened her grip on Jake's hand. She felt his own hand grip hers in turn. He didn't say anything out loud. He didn’t need to, she knew he was feeling the same trepidation that she was. Both of them knew their lives would never be normal, but even in the midst of that, they’d found a rhythm to call their own together. That was about to be disrupted. 

Ada Wong had met them at the hangar. Since she had often come to help Leon in the past he had stopped to listen to what she had to say. Leon had sent them on ahead. He hadn't been able to reach Ada but her appearance out of nowhere seemed out of place. Leon called Jake back.

Jake released Sherry's hand reluctantly. "Go, wait by the platform, I'll be right there," he said to Sherry giving the area one last scan. She nodded her face pinched. Anja was moody and gave a small cry. Sherry smiled down at her. At least the infant could express her feelings without anyone telling her not to break down. Sherry couldn't afford to break down. Not now. She adjusted the carrier and moved towards the helicopter blocking the strong winds that were sweeping up from Anja’s small head.

She turned around as she neared the helicopters for a quick glance at Jake. He was shaking his head at whatever Ada had just said. His face a mask of anger.

That's when shit hit the fan.

The J'Avo swept over the platform from behind. Sherry barely had time to register her own shock before reaching for her handgun. How long she was going to last against them she didn’t know but the odds were against them being here to kill her. 

"Jake!" The grotesque mutated bodies swept towards her and around her, everywhere at once. Rough bleeding hands clamped down on her arm as she fired one shot off, not even knowing if it hit. She felt the gun leave her hand, hot breath on the back of her neck as arms wrapped around her and pulled her off her feet. At her chest, Anja was screaming as loud as a newborn could from being jostled. 

"Sherry!" Jake immediately bolted in her direction. Behind him, Leon and Chris struggled to keep up his pace.

There were so many J'Avo there was no way to reach her. She still had Anja strapped to her chest. Even the J'Avo were taking care not to jostle her too much. She struggled against the arms that held her. They moved her towards the helicopter, as she fought to no avail.

Jake, guns drawn, had leaped into the fray. "Sherry!" He yelled firing at the J'Avo indiscriminately. Many he shot straight in the head dropped straight to the ground. Others who were not so lucky mutated on the spot as the virus tried to repair the damaged limb or organs. When he ran out of bullets he dropped the guns and started swinging.

Leon glanced around. Ada was nowhere to be seen.

_ Ada did this _ . Leon thought. For once he didn't wonder about the woman behind the mask she projected. Sherry he had rescued, Ada knew that. This was betrayal pure and simple. There was no questioning her motives. Sherry should have been off limits. Not a target. And if she was a target, Ada should have told him. He put Ada out of his mind. He would deal with her later if she showed up.

Leon had kept moving forward, Chris on his right, Claire on his left. "Shit!" He said to Chris, "he's going to get himself killed!"

Chris only grunted a reply, firing off being sure to hit the J’Avo in the eyes.

The J'Avo had overwhelmed Jake and pinned him to the ground. They couldn’t pick him back up again without him fighting like a madman. Any second now and Leon knew one would attempt to knock him out. Leon pushed through.

Jake let out a yell of frustration. He could no longer hear or see Sherry. One of the helicopters lifted off and flew away. He was still pinned to the ground on his back staring up at J'Avo as they moved around him.

Suddenly the J'avo were gone, swarming away and Jake was on his feet. Leon and Claire were moving forward surrounding him. There was one helicopter missing from the pad. An extra baby blanket Sherry had been carrying to cover Anja in when they traveled was blowing towards them in the wind.

Jake dropped to his knees in front of the blanket, grabbed it up, and held it to his chest. Then he punched the ground with both hands until his knuckles bled.

For the first time since his mother had died, Jake Muller sobbed. "Sherry, damn it!" He swore, banging a fist on the ground again. The sounds of J'Avo died away and Leon and Chris pulled up just behind him.

"Shit," Chris swore watching the helicopters recede. He spoke into his earpiece. "We got a destination or direction for that chopper?"

"Negative, our radar is scrambled."

"Well fix it!" Chris barked into the microphone.

"Ada," Leon swore again. Ada never hurt innocent people as far as he could tell. Her style, while questionable, tended to find every loophole in the job for the minimum damage. While he tended to get in guns blazing, Ada was a bit more tactful.

Usually.

He couldn't understand what had happened here exactly.

He put his hand on Jake's shoulder. Seeing Jake's shoulders shake in helplessness was the most disturbing sight he'd come across in a while. He glanced over at Claire who was pursing her lips in a tight line.

There wasn't any love lost between Claire and Jake, but they both would protect Sherry at all costs. Without Sherry, he was going to have to buffer between the two.

"We'll get her back." Leon was telling himself more than anyone. Chris stood back, still not certain any overture would be welcome from him.

"You know what he'll do with them," Jake said in a loud whisper. His head hung forward as he struggled to maintain control of himself. He hated feeling helpless and that threatened to engulf him. He tried to hold onto fury instead. Anything that would keep him going.

"I have an idea," Leon said back to him keeping a firm grip on his shoulder.

Jake's shoulders stopped heaving and he slowly stood up. Leon released him and stepped back.

He turned around, the baby blanket clutched in one large hand the other balled into a fist. His jaw was clenched, and it was not despair that Leon noticed but pure rage. His eyes were red-rimmed from crying, but also cold and full of fury.

Claire actually took a step back. This was what Jake was without Sherry. Briefly, she wondered what he'd been like when Sherry had first met him. Sherry had to convince him he was needed to save the world. He’d been convinced at some point. 

"We'll get them back," Leon said again to Jake. Leon meant it to, first, he would deal with Ada though.

"Yeah, you bet we will," Jake said in a low dangerous voice, looking at Leon. "I don't care what sort of fucking monsters they create. I will go through ALL of them if that's what it takes." He glanced over at Chris. "And I'll even put a fucking bullet back in that bastard's head."

Chris nodded. "I'm in."

Leon nodded. "I think we're all in," he said glancing over at Claire who only nodded.

"Good," said Jake, "Then let's go put my dear old Dad back into his fucking grave again."


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

Sherry recognized the familiar skyline and sucked in her breath in shock. It was so etched in her memory that she would have recognized where she was from any angle. She stared clutching Anja protectively against her chest. Never again had she wanted to end up here.

The Arklay mountains rose up in front of the helicopter and the ruins of Raccoon City stretched out below. Sherry could see shrubs growing between the dilapidated buildings.

Why here?

The place had been leveled in an attempt to contain the infected. It had worked then…until someone else decided to play with the Virus again.

There must be an underground facility. Something buried in the ground that was left untouched. Sherry shuddered. Her memories bringing up her time as a child fleeing the monster her father had become. She hated to admit she was terrified.  She hadn’t been back here, never wanting to see this place again.  

She stared at the J’Avo that had accompanied her into the helicopter. J’Avo were a result of the C-Virus. They were capable of speech, took orders better than any soldier, but the virus caused their faces to deform. And if injured their bodies would mutate in an attempt to keep them going. The mutations were never pretty. They might sprout another set of limbs or wings, they were generally random. This J’Avo like many others had one normal eye…and four others in random places on its face.  In China most of the J’Avo wore masks to conceal their destroyed visages.

The J’Avo stared back giving no indication that it was highly intelligent or thinking much beyond its orders to retain her. There was no room for pitying the creature anymore. Its humanity was gone, and there wasn’t a cure yet, just a vaccine. That wouldn’t reverse the current state of the J’avo. 

Sherry had no idea what prompted her to do it. She blamed Jake's influence over her as he tended to be incredibly reckless.

She glanced at the J'avo again, and then checked to make sure Anja was secured to her chest.

She made her move. The idea was to shove the J'avo out of the large helicopter and then somehow overpower the pilot.

Not that things always worked out the way they were supposed to.

The J'avo proved to be a little more aware of his surroundings than Sherry had anticipated. Maybe because it had so many eyes. When Sherry launched herself at the J'avo he reacted with surprise but managed to latch on to the side of the helicopter with his legs hanging out one hand swinging free.

"Shit!" Sherry yelled as the helicopter lurched to one side. She held onto the seat as the helicopter swung out of control for a few dizzying seconds.

The J'avo swung trying to pull itself back in and Sherry kicked at its fingers trying to avoid its free arm. Suddenly it let go and fell into the trees which were not that far below them.

The helicopter had righted itself and Sherry turned towards the pilot.

The door was open and he glanced back seeing her alone without the J'avo, he made his own decision.

The guy bailed.

Sherry was shocked for a moment but managed to clamber into the pilot seat. It seemed no one necessarily wanted to give their lives for Neo-Umbrella or whoever had ordered her kidnapping.

They had been flying low over the treetops to avoid radar so she couldn't imagine that the fall had been a pleasant one. He probably had a parachute ready otherwise, why jump?

The helicopter jerked and wheeled and Sherry knew with a sinking feeling that there was no way she was going to be able stabilize it. There was another parachute next to her and she grabbed it with shaking fingers getting an arm through it when the helicopter went into a dizzying spin. She yanked open the door with the other arm and managed to get the other arm through the strap just as the nose brushed the tree tops as it spun down, both she and Anja were tossed through the door in the opposite direction over the tree tops and away from the helicopter. The parachute deployed uselessly managing to snag them high up in the tree tops.

The explosion rocked the ground and knocked Sherry closer to the tree.  
She looked down at her feet dangling high off the ground and then at Anja still strapped to her chest.

"At least we know the baby carrier works under fucking pressure," she muttered sounding just like Jake for a moment. Pain welled up in her head as she thought of him.

For the first time in her life since her parents had died Sherry lost it.

She screamed and cursed using every bit of profanity she had picked up from her husband over the past year. She even cursed at him, that he wasn't here knowing that it wasn't his fault. She yelled at her parents for helping Wesker in the first place, for dying, and for Simmons for betraying her. Everything that had happened that she’d told herself she was ok with came out.

Anja was crying loudly in her carrier and Sherry joined right along with her.

They made so much noise until Sherry feeling exhausted, ceased her yells, feeling her arms aching from the way she was hanging suspended in the air.

A sudden smell on the breeze gave her a jolt and another rush of adrenaline.

Smoke.

No doubt helicopter had gone down in a blazing inferno.

But she realized suddenly that with the amount of trees this close together this was a tinderbox waiting to burn.

She began swinging desperately for the nearest tree which had the added side effect of putting Anja to sleep. Her arms ached from hanging from the parachute but she continued to get her momentum going like a pendulum.

She still had a knife in her pocket as the J'avo may have been more intelligent, but they were not thorough. Her pilot definitely had not checked her before taking off the way they did. Any second he wasted and Jake would have been there and on him.

_Jake._

She felt another pang wash over and redoubled her efforts to get down. She was going to see him again, no one was going to keep them separated. She finally snagged a branch and pulled herself close to the tree trying to get her footing and doing her best not to jostle Anja at the same time.

Once she was secured she reached into her pocket and withdrew her pocket knife. It wasn't the ideal knife for this job but it would work. Hopefully.

Sherry could still smell the smoke and that motivated her to work faster.

One side broke and her left arm stung as the pressure came off of it. She turned towards the right and sawed through the other side.

The pressure eased off of both arms now and Sherry had to take a break. She could feel the muscles returning to normal already. One of the side effects of the G-Virus vaccine. Healing.

She chanced a glimpse down.

"Only 50 feet to go." She told the sleeping Anja. "Remind me to spoil you rotten when you're older."

The climb down was the most uneventful part of the trip so far.

"You know this is going extremely well considering what usually happens," Sherry said to Anja when her feet touched the ground.

She had survived the helicopter crash with hardly a scratch on her with a SLEEPING infant attached to her chest. She was glad that Anja was still so small and easily carried.

It was almost completely dark now and Arklay forest was the last place you wanted to be at night. There was a bright orange glow off to the right and Sherry considered moving towards it but headed away from it instead. They were probably close to the facilities considering where they were and she had no intention of being caught.  
Her phone was still in her other pocket. She pulled it out and dialed Jake's number. There was one bar, maybe it would go through…

"Hel…. Rry… hear…." Suddenly burst into her ear drum.

"Jake! Jake! Can you hear me?" She almost shouted into the phone startling Anja who woke up startled and started to whimper. His voice made her feel a small amount of relief. He was alive wherever he was.

"Jake, listen if you can hear me! I'm near Raccoon City, near the Arklay mountains, the helicopter crashed, can you hear me?"

"Sher… wha… Ark…." The static was unbearable. The signal suddenly went out…

"Dammit," Sherry cried. She had to sit down with Anja as the baby girl was nuzzling against her chest, and Sherry realized that she was probably VERY hungry. It was pitch black out. She turned her phone off and put it in her pocket…no need to waste the battery.

Anja's cries grew a little more insistent and Sherry glanced around.

She unbuttoned her shirt keeping her ears open and listening into the darkness. Anja nuzzled, latched and quieted.

Sherry did not know how long that would last as she could smell the faint odor of urine and knew a diaper change was going to have to happen soon.

She had just put Anja back securely against her chest when she heard the faint click of a gun next to her right ear.

She turned and for a moment couldn't see who was in front of her. She held up her hand at the light that was being flashed into her face knowing it was pointless to run.

"So you survived the crash." It was the pilot.


	13. Chapter 13

 

Jake stared at the phone in his hand.

_Sherry._

She had called or tried to anyway. That meant it was possible she had gotten away. He couldn't imagine Wesker leaving a phone on her. Unless it was a trap. He considered it and then discarded the idea. It did not matter. If it was a trap he was still going to go.

His hand trembled as he stared at the only link to his wife he had at the moment. His other hand curled into a fist as he tried to think of the best way to get to Sherry. He wiped his forehead and looked around for Leon's sparsely decorated desk.

Leon was rarely in the office so his desk looked almost Spartan. They had come here searching for any leads the DSO might have. Leon doing most of the searching with Hunnigan, Jake pacing like a caged tiger.

Jake…Arklay…helicopter….crashed….

He wasn't sure what Arkly meant. Helicopter crash though? She must have gotten away…

"Hero," He said, his voice tremored just a bit and Leon looked up.

"You got something?"

"I think she just tried getting through on her cell phone."

"She still has her phone?" Leon smacked his forehead. "What did she say?"

"There was a lot of static but does 'Arklay mean anything to you?"

Leon froze and his face paled.

"Raccoon City." He looked up at Jake. "I know about where they've taken her, come on we'll get Hunnigan to locate her using her GPS, all our phones have it, it's required. I can’t believe we didn’t think of it earlier."

Jake whistled appreciating the technology for the first time. Always before he hated it because he was the one having to hide.

Not today.

Leon got up and was moving towards Hunnigans office, located in a different section of their building, he led the way

Jake following close behind trying not to run Leon over in his eagerness to see where Sherry was.

"Hunnigan," he said rushing into her office. "I need a location on Agent Birkin's phone. She made a phone call to Jake."

Hunnigan was still a beautiful woman around the same age as Leon. Her dark hair was pulled back into a professional bun, and the gray had just started to show in it. Her dark skin stood in stark contrast to her pale shirt. Leon had tried asking her on a date once over the phone after a mission. She’d turned him down then, but they got along well.

She hesitated and then snapped forward to her computer and began typing furiously. “You better not be joking.” Hunnigan was one of the few agents familiar with Sherry’s background. She’d come to admire the younger woman for choosing to join the DSO after everything.

"Don't worry," said Leon, "nothing worse than what I've put you through already."

Hunnigan shot Leon a dirty look complete with an eye roll. "I'll just be happy if there's no repeat of the ESR incident."

Leon schooled his face into a look of innocence when Jake shot him a questioning glance. Not that he cared too much right now. He was more concerned about Sherry's location.

After a few moments that seemed to stretch for an eternity for Jake Hunnigan said, "I've got her."

"Where?" Leon said leaning over her shoulder to stare at the monitor.

Jake crowded to peer over her other shoulder.

"Her signal shows she's in the forest outside the city," Hunnigan said. "If she heads east she'll make it there."

"It's ruins though isn't it?" Said Leon.

Hunnigan shrugged. "I don't know; why would they take her in the first place?"

"Let's go," said Jake, backing away seeing all he needed to see.

"Wait." Said Leon.

"Wait?" Jake snarled. His hands balled into fists. He had a location on Sherry, now was not the time to hesitate.

Leon put both hands up. "Let's gear up first, I've been there before…it was not pretty. And there have been a few incidents since. You don't want to go in unarmed. It won't take long to grab our gear."

Jake hesitated and then nodded seeing the wisdom in the suggestion. The tension left him. "Hurry," was all he replied with.

"Ten minutes and then we're airborne," Leon replied.

 _Sherry we're coming,_  Jake thought as he followed Leon away from Hunnigan's office.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Sherry stared at the end of the gun pointed at her, she could barely see it in the darkness.

The pilot had survived his fall, he had a few scratches on his face and a black eye. Blonde hair framed his face under his nondescript military-style helmet. But his cool steady gaze left no doubt who was in charge here.

The smell of smoke still permeated the air growing stronger.

He glanced towards the burning crash glowing in the darkness.

"You have a remarkable talent for surviving, I'll give you that. But I have a job to do. I don't know why they want you so badly but they are paying me generously."

"Who is?" Sherry asked before she could stop herself. She had an idea it was the clone of Albert Wesker, who had actually he thought he and Jake were brothers before he had discovered his real identity. Not that this had upset him. He seemed to relish the idea of being a perfect copy of his father.

"They are also paying me for their anonymity," he flicked his eyes around the dark trees attempting to hide his fear with a shrug. "However I think it is in our best interests to move away from the fire." He pointed behind them where the orange glow was spreading. "You go first."

Sherry nodded and moved forward wrapping her arms around Anja to protect her.

She had recognized the skyline from the air but now that it was dark she was not sure which direction to go except away from the burning.

Anja stirred against her chest, moving her head, the smoke was definitely growing thicker.

"I've seen a few strange creatures before it got dark," the pilot whispered from behind her. Sherry could hear the strain in his voice. Whatever he had seen terrified him.

"What did you see?" She moved forward in the darkness attempting to follow the light of his flashlight as he scanned it back and forth. Praying the entire time that nothing suddenly jumped forward into the beam.

"Something huge," he admitted. "Maybe ten feet, Bigfoot certainly came to mind. But Bigfoot doesn't wear pants."

"Pants? Did it see you?" Sherry turned around holding her arm up as the beam cut across her face. He dropped it down quickly. A bad feeling was rising in her chest. Something tall stalking around in the forest…there were only so many things it could be. But only one creature was coming to mind immediately.   _Not again._

"You know what it is." It was a statement, not a question. The pilot stared at her.

"I know what it might be," she corrected, not letting him in on the fact that it COULD be a lot of things.

The smoke was thicker now.

"We should run." She said suddenly turning to take off. He did the same, the steady glow was moving faster now. If they couldn't outrun it, then... She let the thought trail off as she raised her arms to shield Anja from the brush.

She might survive…Anja might survive. This guy probably wouldn’t.

"So, what might it be?" He asked as they moved forward. He was no longer pointing the gun at her but held it out next to him, ready to use on whatever was out there.

She didn't answer. Never had she felt so defenseless as she did right now. Sherry wanted her own gun between whatever monster was lurking out there and Anja. Although in the back of her mind she knew whatever was in the forest right now would never be as bad as what awaited her in one of the labs here.


	14. Chapter 14

Wesker surveyed the man in front of him. He felt no fear of discovery. Only a vague curiosity about what was supposed to happen. He had notes, letters, left over from Wesker. The idea was simple.

He flexed his fingers, feeling the fingers crack. The old man flinched. _Damn. Wesker really did have everyone afraid of him._ Albert felt a little pride on the inside, to be a part of that legacy, to be carrying it on…

Wesker had been busy. Albert could only be in awe of what the elder had accomplished. The various aspects of different projects, anything that could go wrong. Almost any scenario that didn’t place Wesker on top, he’d accounted for.

Even death…

"I'm sorry about your loss." Albert Wesker Jr. looked at the older man in front of him who'd worked with his father on one of his various side projects. He made a mental note to get through the rest, but this one was the most interesting.

"He wasn't found worthy," Malcolm replied looking away. He was having trouble adapting to the clone of Wesker. He knew the much younger man did not yet possess the abilities of the elder. He had all the framework already but none of the experiences that had made Wesker who he was. It was disconcerting to hear him offer condolences.

Albert Wesker would never have done such a thing. Never.

The clone had walked in, and Malcolm realized he was aware of the project, not necessarily his role in it.  Project Resurrection, they’d called it. To be used in case their plans had failed…other labs took on the roles of cloning first, rapid cloning came later.

His specialty? Memory…

The younger Wesker narrowed his eyes at Malcolm again, and Malcolm took a step back and swallowed. He may not have been the original, but he had the same frightening presence. Where you always had the possibility of being terminated if you were no longer required. Or if you knew too much.

“I think I understand where this is going.” Wesker’s voice lowered, almost to a whisper. He moved to the chair in the center of the room. The straps were in place, a large circular dome, at the top, where he would place his head. And the rest? That was Malcolm's job…

He climbed into the chair and Malcolm placed the restraints on his wrists and ankles. He adjusted the straps around Albert’s head, moved the dome to his head, where he needed it to go. With the punch of a button, three needles punctured Albert’s skull. He went rigid for a moment and then relaxed.

Malcolm took another look around the room again. So far, so good…

The younger Wesker clone sat immobilized in his chair, the wires and tubes running and circling his head gave him an almost cyborg appearance. They would all come off eventually healing over as if they'd never been attached.

Malcolm hoped for the same abilities. His son had not passed the test, the C-Virus had mutated him there in the hospital. He'd been shot down by his own guards. Officially, he’d died of cancer…

Unofficially…

Malcolm had shrugged it off. He was a scientist and they would get the virus to work on whomever they chose; eventually. He left the room to allow Wesker's memories time to implant. He had his own plans as well.

Wesker shivered as memories began to surface that weren't his.

Malcolm's last words about his son rattled around his brain for a while. _“He wasn’t found worthy.”_

Remembering another day when he had used a similar line.  _Estella, was that her name?_  The Uroboros Virus had not found her worthy either…she'd mutated into something else entirely screaming his name as she’d mutated into a monstrosity that he’d let Chris Redfield and his latest partner deal with.

The sound of it had some sort of religious fervor to it that he found disturbing. He shifted in the chair as the two minds battled for the same space.

Wesker thought about what he'd promised the older man. Immortality? The chance to be young again? The youth might be easier to give than Immortality. He smiled to himself. But to give it, the old man would have to die so his clone could live. He wondered briefly how Derges would take that. It didn't matter, it didn't serve his long-term plan anyway.

Derges was a means to an end. That was all.

In the end, Wesker wanted no competition. He would always be on top. He felt the mind meld began to take hold more readily as more memories filled his mind. It was as if another person was being shoved into his head, an alien yet familiar presence.

_Wesker Jr's body sat in the chair. The personalities inside of him circled warily, each taking the measure of the other._

_The younger whose body the elder now resided regarded his creator's memories thoughtfully._

_"You had a plan for every contingency, it was brilliant, really."_

_"I know," said the elder Wesker warily. The face changed as each talked. It was a bizarre split personality. "Do you know what will eventually happen?" He said._

_"Yes," the younger Wesker came back, quite cheerily. "Our personalities will soon meld into one. All my memories will be open to you and all of yours will be open to me. There will no longer be two of us here."_

_The elder Wesker considered his cloned self. "You've done very well in my absence."_

_"Thank you," Said the younger._

_"I see that you've not gotten rid of Ada Wong."_

_"I sent her after Sherry Birkin. After a clone performed a short service for me. She has no idea."_

_"Ah," The elder looked through the memories of the event. It was satisfying to see Ada Wong caught off guard for once._

_He realized the clone of himself had read her perfectly._

_"She'll bring us Birkin, or at least a sample of her." Said the younger._

_"You'll need the whole person eventually," Said Albert Wesker. He saw with a shock suddenly Jake Muller in his clone's thoughts._

_"I have a son." It was a statement, he watched through the memories as Jake Muller battled and cursed his way through each encounter with his clone._

_"You have more than one," said the Clone sounding smug. The Clone's mind was starting to fade at the same time._

_Albert Wesker could feel the separation between them starting to vanish. He pulled up more memories readily now as if they were his and he had experienced them himself._

_"Not as perfect as a clone of myself," he said, "But he's very strong and had a dose of the C-Virus." He grinned. So that had been passed down into the next generation as well. Then a frown came across his features. He'd also had a dose of the Immortality Virus made from mixing the genes between the C- and G-Virus carried by Sherry Birkin._

_He could see the plans his clone had started. The Clone who'd thought he was his son at the time had decided against his previous experiments, discarding them as too much work. And it had been a lot of work to keep injecting himself at regular intervals. Especially with the enemy constantly on his trail. He shrugged. He was a scientist and it would_ __simply be back to the drawing board.__

_He had also been injected with the Immortality Virus. So, had Jake, that put them on equal footing._

_Wesker did not necessarily relish the idea of having an equal out there. He'd once aspired to godhood. Still, Immortality was a step in that direction. He didn't know if it worked really or simply slowed aging._

He realized at that point there was no one inside his own mind with him. His two selves were one.

It was a good plan he had put into place with Malcolm Derges. It had worked flawlessly.

 _Ah, Birkin, old friend,_  he thought,  _it looks like I'm going to be chasing your daughter down again._ __  
  
Then he realized something else. Through the clone's memories, he saw that Sherry had been pregnant the last time the Clone had encountered them.

Jake was the father.

He didn't know whether to feel bewildered or laugh out loud at the irony. Jake had started a line for him. It was the perfect opportunity to see if the virus could be passed down to the next generation. Jake obviously had his blood type, but that didn't mean other things would pass along. The clone had been right about one thing. Jake was the perfect test subject and should he not make it, the child would be a good replacement.

Maybe even an easier one to start with.

Enough time had passed that she would have delivered a child by now. Wesker brought his hands together under his chin as he sat thinking. The clone had made plenty of distractions for him so he could get here undisturbed. It was messy but it worked. Wesker was satisfied.

After a few moments, he decided the best plan would be to remind Ada Wong he was back at the helm. Not his son, or his clone, but himself in full control with all the knowledge that he possessed.

The second idea he had was to pull up the files of all the pregnancies he caused. He noted with distaste that his clone had intended impregnating Sherry Birkin himself but there were so many other ways you could do this without the guesswork or the wait. And unlike his clone, he knew where the files were on the offspring that he'd started in the lab. Most of them artificially inseminated.

All except the one.

Jake Muller was a natural pregnancy, he had never known it occurred. He studied the face of Jake from memory. The boy had grown up in Edonia, turned into a Mercenary and seemed to have a love of fighting. His mother, Albert remembered, had been a brilliant scientist. He could picture Anja clearly. He hadn’t thought about her in years, so he was surprised at the brief moment of pang that he shoved away. Anja had left without warning before he’d really gotten started. At least, now he knew why.

He sat up in the chair and keyed in a few codes that let the main Neo-Umbrella systems know he was back.

There were several layers of systems in place to ensure that he or his clone would maintain control, no matter who owned the company now. The memory overlay had worked perfectly. He'd helped Simmons use it to create his own pet Ada Wong.

The woman had believed for a while that she was indeed the real Ada Wong. But the real Ada, ever resourceful had put that notion down permanently.

Simmons had been obsessed with the woman, and Wesker wondered if he should have just had Ada kill him that much sooner. As it was, he was dead and no longer an overly ambitious thorn in Wesker’s side.

The Family had taken care of that. Wesker had made sure to never let them have an opportunity to strike at him like that. So far, they interfered very little with his plans.

He returned to the problem of the grandchild. If all went well, they should already be in his possession with Jake soon to follow. He’d take a sample to see if the Virus carried through the next generation. If it had, he didn't mind taking ownership of such genetics.

He would take stock and build up again. There were others to bring in, no, he thought. They are already there, waiting. Not perfect copies but descendants none-the-less.

But the Immortality Virus as it was, was here…all he would need is a pint. In its current form, it only worked on a handful of people immune to the C-Virus. His clone had been on the right track.

The world could be remade that way.

* * *

 

  


 

 

The fire spread quickly.

Sherry ran like she had never run before. Her lungs burned, her legs ached, but her fear for Anja kept her moving. More than once she thought she saw a shape speeding past them as whatever creatures lived in the forest ran for their lives. She hoped none of them were experiments. But if they were, they had the sense to flee and not come after them at least.

Suddenly they burst through a clearing. Sherry glanced around amazed.

Raccoon City…or what was left of it.

Rubble lay everywhere, shrubbery grew up between the foundations. Streets, cracked as they yielded back the ground to nature. Cars lay scattered about, rusting carcasses all that remained of the town that Sherry had lived in as a kid.

Suddenly a growl sounded behind them.

"Uh…you." Sherry didn't know the pilot's name.

"Andrew," he replied staring straight ahead forgetting for a moment he was supposed to remain anonymous. "Andrew Hardy."

Sherry really did not care what his name was. She just wanted to get his attention. Both of them were focused on the ugliest dog that Neo-Umbrella or anyone could ever have spawned.

 _Hellhound_ , thought Sherry as she wrapped an arm around Anja who chose that moment to cry out.

Even the dog froze, blood oozed off of its infected skin. Its gums were a grey pallor. The infected dog was not alone.

As the smoke came closer and the orange flames shot up to the buildings more infected dogs emerged from the trees. And several other things as well.

Sherry almost did a double take as the dogs looked behind them and raced away from the fire with a chorus of howls.

A strelat ran by not even sparing them a glance.

Self-preservation at its finest.

She shot a glance over at Andrew not sure whether their luck would hold. Sherry remembered something Jake had once told her. The mutated creatures were basically animals. The infected, however, Zombies, as Jake called them those were something else entirely. They were mindless killing machines, coming after you no matter the danger. The all-consuming need to feast on living flesh was all that drove them. They were one of the few things that gave Jake goosebumps. A strelat, he would charge head first into, no problems. But the infected, or zombies, as Jake preferred… he hated them.

Anja was screaming against her chest now.

Sherry debated on running away from the pilot but he still had a gun and she was armed only with a squalling infant.

He turned back to her finally. "Well, that was amazing…"

His words died on his lips when heavy footsteps sounded over the roar of the flames.

Sherry immediately ducked into one of the buildings, although what cover it was going to provide she had no clue. The fire was loud and crackling now and covered up the sound of Anja's tiny wails. At least Sherry hoped it did. Andrew dropped in next to her and Sherry took Anja out of the carrier and unbuttoned her shirt.

Andrew stared openly as she bared her breast and pulled Anja up and stuck her on it. Anja nursed greedily and Sherry's eyes met Andrew's. He turned away from her lifted eyebrow and stared off towards the forest. He was no longer looking at her but staring slack-jawed at the creature that had emerged from the forest.

It was maybe feet tall, heavily muscled but the drifting smoke was starting to obscure details. Sherry was almost certain it was an Ustanak like creature. The creatures were incredibly smart, although Sherry could not imagine choosing to be one. The last one she fought had been a friend. They were tenacious killers, stalking their prey for weeks on end. They were smart, fast, and loyal to their makers. They killed without mercy and tended to take it personally if you fought back or escaped.

Like the J'avo, she was fairly certain they didn't have much room for speech. Although Devon as an Ustanak had called her by name.

The fire hit the edge of the forest and began to slip into the brush of the city. The Ustanak was forced to move away. Sherry noticed the flying bugs it sent out. How they alerted the creature to anyone's presence she did not know. But unarmed she certainly wasn't going to set one off now. Jake had been able to smash them into the floor without alerting the Ustanak when they were stuck in the mines with it. But he could actually reach them here. Sherry didn't even have a stick to knock them down with.

"What is that thing?" Andrew whispered glancing at her with fear filled eyes.

"Shhhh." Sherry put a finger to her lips and peeked over the edge of the concrete through the brush.

The creature had moved away from them but was standing still with its head cocked to the side listening. Suddenly Sherry heard it too. The low sound of helicopter blades coming closer.

 _Well, the forest is on fire,_ she thought. _Maybe that’s a good thing._

Then the helicopter was there and Sherry saw it wasn't a Forest Service helicopter but a US Government helicopter, specifically a DSO unit. She started to leap up, wave her arms and yell when Andrew clamped a hand over her mouth and yanked her back down.

"Are you crazy!" He whispered. "That thing is still right there!"


	15. Chapter 15

"How close are we, Hunnigan?" Leon yelled into his headset.

"You should be right on top of her," Hunnigan's voice came out of the earphones. Jake and Leon were in the helicopter with Leon piloting, Jake was scanning the ground looking for any signs of his wife.

The forest was on fire which had made tracking the signal difficult. "We’ll set it down there just out of range," Leon shifted in his seat. The helicopter bucked slightly against the wind.

Jake didn't bother to respond, he just kept looking suddenly he clamped a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Uh, hero…"

Leon glanced over to his right, there on the ground was another Ustanak. "Damn," he whistled. "How many of those things does this kid have up his sleeve?"

Jake shook his head. If they were right on top of Sherry so was that Ustanak.

"Do we set down?"

Leon shook his head, "not here."

Jake wasn't listening, he was tensed, quite ready to jump out of the helicopter. He already had a parachute strapped to his back, as well as being loaded for world war 3. He had taken pretty much any weapon he could get his hands on before they left. Leon had done the same.

Leon broke him out of his revelry. "Don't even think about it. It's going to take both of us to take that creature down."

Jake nodded but he was impatient. He scanned the ground making an attempt to see in the buildings as Leon moved the helicopter away.

"How long till Claire and Chris get here?" He asked.

Leon shrugged. "Probably another 3 hours. We did call him from the road."

"In time to clean up the mess." Jake smiled. "He wasn't too happy about it."

"Yeah well, he’ll want to call in the calvary."

“Whatever,” Jake muttered. “We are the fucking calvary.”

Leon didn’t respond and Jake still wondered if there was any way they could have smuggled Chris aboard. Not that he normally needed his help, but with Sherry out there, he didn't mind the extra hand.

Leon started his descent well away from the Ustanak. They could still see it in the distance. It hadn't moved as the fire drew near it.

Leon set the helicopter down and Jake was out of the chopper as soon as it touched down.

"Forest Service and firemen will be out this way soon to control that fire." Leon stared at the distant standing figure warily. "We'd better hurry if we want to keep a low body count."

 

Sherry had watched the helicopter fly away dismayed. Andrew had removed his hand and they had laid low. She had a feeling the Ustanak was either waiting for them to emerge from the trees or already knew they were here. The creatures were surprisingly intelligent, but she didn’t need to let Andrew know that.

"If they sent that thing after you," she started. "They probably have no intention of giving you any money."

Andrew just sat. He was a hard man to read and Sherry was hoping she was right. There was something vaguely familiar about him that Sherry couldn’t place. He had the look of a man who had been in hard situations, much like Jake, Chris, or Leon. Sherry was familiar with the look on Andrew’s face. _How did I get here?_

"They said there would be back up." He whispered. "They just weren't very specific. They aren't going to just ditch me anyway. I'm just as important as you are."

 _Well that was new._ Sherry filed that away and studied him again.

He motioned in the direction the helicopter had gone. "Friends of yours?"

"No," She lied, hoping it wasn't too quickly and wondering what he meant.  _Just as important? Who was he?_

He smiled then. "They also said you were a pretty good actress. I’ll have to take their word for it." He turned away staring at the Ustanak. He wasn't sure how HE would be received but if it was the back-up then at least it should have been HIS back up.

Sherry sat quietly. Anja had long ago finished nursing and Sherry had wiped her as best she could under the circumstances. Her outer shirt was smeared with a baby poo which discolored it to a bright yellow on top of the grey button up shirt she was wearing.

Andrew had glanced at her and grimaced but said nothing.  She knew exactly who he was working for. Only one person had ever called her a good actress recently. Jill had said Wesker was sending them a message, that he could get at them whenever he liked. She hadn’t been kidding.

Meanwhile the Ustanak waited, the forest burned and there was no sign of anyone else, yet.

Sherry knew too, who was in that helicopter. Jake, probably Leon too. But Jake would have gotten here as fast as humanly possible. If the DSO had tried to stop him, he would have gone rogue without a second thought.

Although other helicopters started arriving on the scene to put out the fire. Sherry had no idea how many people would see the Ustanak but she surmised that stories of big foot would abound for weeks. Not that the area wasn't supposedly crawling with creatures before. Neo-Umbrella's choice of experiments would make any cryptozoologists wet dreams come true if they weren't created by mutating humans into weapons.

Andrew finally made a decision, he stood up slightly nervous and cupped his hands around his mouth intending to yell at the Ustanak when someone else yelled first. "Hey asshole!"

"Leon!" Sherry was up shoving Andrew from behind as hard as she could she tried running past him.

Andrew hit the dirt hard, but was able to reach out with his hand as he did so and snag Sherry’s ankle.

She saw Leon on the other side of the Ustanak as she fell. She tried rolling to one side as she went down and barely managed it. Her head hit the ground and she was momentarily stunned. Anja who wasn't crying before was wailing now. The wailing sounded far away as Sherry fought to stay conscious. She couldn’t black out, not now.

She turned attempting to wrench her ankle out of Andrew's hands and crawl forward when she saw a blur pounce on him from behind.

Her headache eased and suddenly she saw that it was Jake who was on top of Andrew. He flipped Andrew over like a rag doll and started throwing punches.

Sherry froze and suddenly realized what it was that was familiar about Andrew. He did not have the height that Jake did, but he was a still tall. Maybe 6 ft. But he had the same blue eyes, angled chin. But where Jake was red-headed Andrew was blonde. Jake was hard, scarred from life as a mercenary. Andrew certainly had his share of action but he was by no means a killer.

From behind Jake came the Ustanak who was no longer distracted by Leon. It yanked Jake off of Andrew by the throat and tossed him. Jake flew twenty feet into Leon who was cursing loudly running to try and head the creature off.

"Jake!" She yelled.

The Ustanak pivoted toward Sherry. She glanced around wildly realizing for the tenth time that day how useless she was. She had an infant strapped to her chest, not to mention the infant's poo was running down her outer shirt and absolutely no weapons to speak of. She turned and ran, knowing there was no escape from the Ustanak if it decided to charge her.

Gun shots rang out from behind her as she ran deeper into the remains of Raccoon City away from the fire, trying to sooth a wailing Anja at the same time.

She paused and turned just as the creature charged towards Jake. Leon opened fire causing it to hesitate. In turn Jake would fire on it as it charged Leon.

Suddenly it made for Andrew who was still trying to figure out if the creature was on his side. He shrieked and Sherry realized he had never seen any of the experiments, the infected, or any of the creatures Neo-Umbrella worked on. If he was Jake's half-brother, as Sherry suspected he was relatively new to the game plan. Andrew was groggy, and his face was bloodied from where Jake had punched him. The creature picked him up like a sack of potatoes and slung him over its shoulder. With a quick glance around, it shot off through Raccoon City faster than any of them could run.

Andrew struggled the whole way.

Sherry listened as his cries lessened when suddenly Jake was wrapping his arms around her. "Sherry we've got to move," he whispered into her hair holding her close. He pulled back. "You kind of smell…"

"I know…" she snapped pulling back to look up at him. He looked so relieved to see her that she did not bother to finish her sentence. He grabbed her hand and followed after Leon who was waiting for them.

Suddenly the flames that had been threatening them the entire time reached Leon's helicopter.

"Well double shit," said Jake despondently. "I brought clothes and diapers for you…they were in there," he motioned helplessly.

"Jake," Sherry started again as they moved. "I think he's your half-brother."

Jake came to a dead stop whipping around to stare at her. "You saw another clone?" He scratched the back of his head, then cupped his face with his hand, both actions he subconsciously did when he was seriously thinking.

"No," Sherry replied. "That guy, Andrew. He wasn't a clone, but he's definitely a Wesker, he gave his name as Andrew Hardy. He's a pilot, I'm not sure how involved he is, he was too surprised at the appearance of the B.O.W. And the dogs also were new to him."

"Dogs?" said Leon. He came closer, he wrinkled his nose at the smell but didn't comment otherwise. Anja was the closest thing he was ever going to have to a grand-daughter and he wasn't about to make Sherry feel bad because of the mess she was covered in.

"Great," said Leon. "I hate the dogs. Worse than the lickers, how did you get away?"

"They ran from the fire," Sherry explained shivering. Suddenly she glanced around them. Orange coloring from the fire had started dancing around in her eyes. Flames they had barely noticed with the Ustanak around were suddenly the biggest threat.

"Well," Jake muttered. "Why does this feel like de ja vu?"

"China again," Sherry pulled Anja out of the carrier. "Is there water at least nearby? Leon do you remember?"

Leon glanced around, "There's a lake that way. But it's dark, we need to take shelter while I radio in back up."

He glanced around. "Any basements in these buildings?"

Sherry tensed, there were plenty of underground portions of the city, and she was sure she wasn't ready to go back into them.

Jake who had never been to Raccoon City before and was not privy to its history in the close and personal way that Leon and Sherry were, only shrugged. "Lead the way."

His only concern was to get them to a safe location and then they could clean up the mess. He had grown up as a mercenary so he'd seen a lot worse than an infant who was diaper-less.

"Want me to carry her?" He asked Sherry gently.

Sherry nodded and took off her gray shirt, this she wrapped around Anja and set her in Jake's arms. She took the carrier off of herself and strapped it around Jake who grimaced at the smell but otherwise said nothing. "Sorry it's a mess." She whispered.

Jake's arm suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her close. "Enough about the mess. I thought I lost both of you." He said into her ear.

Leon's voice interrupted him. "If you two could quick making googly eyes at each other, we should get under cover. There’s a fire, which you all might survive, but I definitely wouldn't." It was one of the few references Leon made to their ability to heal as a result of being experimented on. Jake's jaw clenched but Sherry only gave Leon a sad smile.

"Welcome home," Sherry said sarcastically glancing around shivering in her black tank top.

"Yeah really," Leon rolled his eyes. Raccoon City was the city where he had his first job as a cop. The city had been besieged by the infected on his first day. And he had survived. His job now was to go in and wipe them out.

Leon rushed both of them along, the smoke, and heat starting to get uncomfortable. The sun was close to setting, something none of them had noticed due to the fire. The blaze was now a brilliant orange, and the smoke filled air was dropping ash over thelm.

"Andrew said he was important," Sherry interrupted Leon's thoughts as they moved.

Jake who still had an arm around her shoulders looked down at her. "What? Why?"

"I don't know," she replied. "Only he said they wouldn't leave him out here…and the Ustanak carried him off."

Jake pulled her forward by the hand running with her behind him. It was completely dark, they could hear helicopters in the distance battling the wildfire but it had started to rain. Not a heavy rain but still helpful. Anja bundled as she was in the carrier on Jake's chest was only getting her toes wet. The rest of the group was not so lucky.

They moved quickly at a jog until they came to what used to be an office building. Leon pointed to the stairs going down with the door at the bottom. It was a basement which would offer some cover until dawn.

They moved down and Jake opened the door covering Leon as he stepped inside. There wasn't much to the room. It was open and away from the rain at least.

"I'll take first watch," said Leon. He closed the door and sat near it pulling out his phone. He pulled out the phone and noticed there was no signal. "Of course," he muttered. Hunnigan would realize at some point they were out of range.

He hoped. At least Chris and Claire were on their way but how they were going to find them was anybody's guess. And there was the issue of the new kid. Andrew. Whoever, whatever he was. Leon hadn't gotten a good look at him but with Sherry bringing him up repeatedly? He’d ask her questions in the morning, he decided.

He glanced over at Jake. The kid had left his daughter to sleep on his chest and Sherry lay dozing against him as well. He had one arm around her shoulders.

He was fuming, Leon realized. Jake stared into space, an angry line across his forehead.

"Hey, you ok?" He whispered.

"That guy got away." Jake muttered.

"We'll see," said Leon. "I have the feeling we're going to see him again soon. Besides we have to get ourselves out of here. We got Sherry anyway."

Jake shifted slowly so he could see Leon better. "Sherry thinks he's my half-brother. A real one this time. We talked about this, but think about it. Look what they did to me, what would happen if they had how many people out there with those abilities  _working for Neo-Umbrella…or just Wesker himself_."

Leon hesitated. He'd seen more than enough things to know that Jake was not being irrational.

"And he wants Sherry." Jake finished. "If there are others, why are they just now coming to out?"

Leon thought about this. "Maybe he can't make a clone of Sherry…or he can't reproduce the G-Virus."

"Or maybe he doesn't want competition." Jake looked around, his arm had automatically tightened around Sherry. His hatred for Wesker blossomed once again. "You know, Sherry is a good person in spite of everything she went through." Jake paused. "And me, I wasn't. I quite caring about everything. She brought me back."

"Yeah, yeah she made you want to be a better man." Leon muttered looking down at gun. He knew plenty of women who’d done that. He was still hunting monsters.

"I wouldn't say she made me better, but she did make me care." Jake looked down at Sherry who was now sleeping deeply.

Leon didn't say anything. He didn't have to. He was hoping Chris and Claire would be in the area soon. They would have been hampered by the fire, and no doubt Claire would be sick with worry by now. “Plus the additional calvary wouldn’t hurt.”

"Get some sleep." He said finally. "Tomorrow we'll have to get out of here without running into anything resembling your worst nightmare."

"Was this the place where everything went down when she was a kid?" Jake blurted out the question. He couldn’t help it. Sherry had told him about it…but had been vague about a few things. Leon nodded.

"I hate irony," Jake muttered.

 _So, do I, rookie_ , Leon thought.


	16. Chapter 16

Ten faces stared up at Wesker. He had their complete attention. 5 men, 5 women. Each aged by successive year. The eldest pair were 30, the youngest 20. There were others, but they had not been found and brought here yet.

They were all races and nationalities, Wesker had originally mixed his DNA to combine with several women who worked under him, this he had done without their knowledge. They were never going to raise these children so why burden them with the knowledge? His own test tube generation he had called them.

Originally, they were designed with his genetics in mind. They would have the same gifts he did, but after dealing with the failure of Uroburos, the younger Wesker decided that the combined Immortality Virus would have to wait. He would give them the C-virus to make them stronger and faster, but there still needed to be someone on top. That would always be him.

They all had similar traits. Wesker had ensured they would definitely have a family resemblance. They all had his cold blue eyes. They all had succeeded in demanding careers were driven to be as fit as possible.

He stared at them, many seeing the resemblance, a few nervous about what was going on. Most had been "brought" against their will.

"Hello family," he said. Most of them stiffened. He had a lot of explaining to do. He noted with satisfaction there was at least one scientist in the group who listened to him with fascinated eyes. Many were shocked, a few did not believe him. It didn't matter, they would in the end. They were Wesker's after all.

He took out a knife and was met with silence as he calmly rolled up his sleeve and placed the tip into his skin. "This is what you are all capable of," he drew it into the skin and sliced down leaving an opening.

There were gasps and then another moment of shocked silence as his arm closed back over. "This," said Wesker, walking amongst them, "Is your inheritance."


	17. Chapter 17

 

Ada woke up in the same cell, this time on her back. She recognized the after effects of a drug wearing off. _Damn_ , he wasn’t taking any chances on her escaping his clutches. He’d actually drugged her to keep her in an impossible cell.

Her eyes flicked to the door, it was open. There was no one, no sound, no video with a miniature Wesker to give her any kind of marching orders.

_What is this?_

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she understood the damage had been done. Whatever had happened, happened.  A small bit of revenge had been exacted. But she was still considered valuable so she wasn’t dead. Not yet. It was a lesson to remind her of her place should she choose to disobey, question, or bend the rules.

She shifted into a sitting position, slightly groggy. Time to face the music…see what had happened. 

And what she was going to have to do to fix it.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Jake opened his eyes, Sherry was laying across his lap nursing Anja. She'd rewrapped the shirt to keep the messy side away from Anja's bared skin _. They really were going to have to get a shower for them both. All three of us,_  he corrected, as he noted the line of poop down his leg. He grimaced but looked away. Sherry wouldn’t be the only covered in poop today.

Sherry looked up. "Sorry." She said, "I was going to get that..."

"Eh, a little shit never hurt anything," Jake interrupted. He put a hand on her shoulder. He'd woken up with both of them in the night and stayed awake four hours so Leon could sleep.

Leon was sitting across the room for them checking his weapons. The air stank of burned evergreen and smoke.

"We should get moving soon," Jake said softly. "I like my odds better when I can see."

Sherry nodded. "I need a gun, anything you can spare?"

Jake nodded. He had an extra 9mm that he now handed over to her. Sherry sat up and buttoned up her shirt. She felt grimy, wishing she could have a shower. She caught Jake's stare and realized that while she was wishing for a shower, he was wishing they were alone. She blushed and he reached over and grabbed her chin tilting it up he planted a desperate kiss on her lips. He then leaned his forehead into hers.

"When you're ready." Leon's voice broke them apart, but he was smiling.

"Don't mind him," Jake grinned. "He's just jealous." But he stood up still holding Anja, and slipping the carrier onto himself.

"Now you all smell." Leon smiled. He'd give Jake a hard time about it later. He opened the door and headed up the stairs gun out in front of him. The air smelled vaguely of smoke and humidity and while the area was slightly charred the fire had not spread as far into the ruins of Raccoon City as he thought it might. Jake came out next behind him and Sherry followed.

They looked around. It was a bright sunny day, perfect for camping if that's what they had been there for.

"Careful," Sherry said scanning the area. "Yesterday there were infected dogs here. You remember what they were like Leon?"

"Yeah," Leon respond keeping his own weapons handy.

"How did you scare them off?" Jake asked keeping his own eyes open.

"We didn't, the fire did." Sherry didn't say how grateful she'd been for the distraction.

"So that guy couldn't have been that great of a pilot," Jake muttered.

"Oh, about that," Sherry felt her face turn red. "That's kind of my fault."

Leon and Jake both stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"You caused the crash?" Jake stared at her with an almost hungry expression on his face, mixed with admiration.

She was crimson now.

Leon stared at her with respect. "How did Anja not get injured?"

"I'm not sure really," Sherry replied. "She was strapped to my chest when we went down…I ended up suspended in the air for a bit, climbed down. And then I tried calling you…and after got apprehended by the pilot."

"Well don't let anyone suggest you don't belong in the DSO," Leon moved ahead.

“Super girl," Jake whispered it to her. It was his nickname for her ever since he’d discovered she was self-healing.

They started moving though the ruins of Raccoon City. Leon kept the lead for a few minutes. "I'm kind of expecting company. They have an Ustanak, I wouldn't be surprised if they can see us."

He pointed to a small camera that was barely noticeable.

"I wouldn't have seen it." Sherry said. Jake said nothing but he lifted his Glock and shot at the camera, shattering it. Anja started to cry.

"Bit dramatic," Leon said moving on. "Can you get her quiet again, if there are infected dogs out here, that's not helping."

Jake shrugged but walked forward soothing Anja at the same time. She quieted as he moved. _He was going to have to control his recklessness,_ Leon thought. _At least with Anja strapped to his chest. Sherry would kill him if the infected dogs did not._

They moved into the trees.

"Hear that?" Jake said. Sherry and Leon nodded. They heard nothing, no birds, no insects, the area had gone completely silent.

Leon scanned the ruined city. “We got company.”


	18. Chapter 18

*And now we've officially hit the split! Chapters might take longer from here on out as I figure out the best way to go. There's only so many roads to take them down! Going to be a fun ride though! Bear with me! I promise it will be worth it! (And as always thank you Silex for the back and forth and bouncing of ideas!)*

 

 

 

It’s always quiet before the storm. Jake knew this, he’d spent years in that moment, in anticipation of the fight. His blood was pounding, fingers tightened around his gun waiting for the first target. The more silent, the more promise of violence. It was as if the whole world was waiting for someone to make the first move.

Jake loved it.

At least, he would have, but not with Sherry and Anja at his side. He was more reckless than he’d been in Edonia. He pushed the boundaries, whatever it took to get the missions done. He knew Leon understood at least on a basic level what he was doing. But the pain from each injury was real, as was the pain he felt as his body righted itself again. He didn’t want that for Sherry. In the back of his mind, something was saying this was ironic. A man as reckless as he was with an indestructible wife and child. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t feel pain or not suffer. That Jake couldn’t let happen.

He stole a glance at Leon. Leon’s hair, hanging over his face obscuring his eyes, had a pinch of gray at the roots. This surprised Jake for some reason, he hadn’t pictured Leon as getting old as much as he was out on the job, killing B.O.W.s. Leon was tensed and waiting, his breathing silent as he scanned the woods in front of them. He was patient where Jake was restless. He glanced down at Anja, strapped to his chest this time. Her hair was red like his, only a shade lighter. The blue eyes that stared up at him were solemn, Jake had a suspicion that she knew she needed to be silent. She watched his every move with a gravity that would have befitted a general watching a battle not going his way. He put an arm around and glanced back at their surroundings.

When the quiet was broken, dread filled Jake, not anticipation. They had to get this right. He was so tired of being their guinea pig, and they were not going to torture Sherry again if he had a breath left in his body. Of course, if they ever succeeded in stopping Neo-Umbrella in whatever shell company they took; he would be out of a job.

The sudden explosion knocked them all to the ground. Sherry could feel her ears ringing as she tried to listen but everything was convoluted and muffled. Her face was plastered into the dirt as she pulled herself up.  _Jake, Anja!_  She tried calling out for them but all that came out was a dirt-filled croak. She coughed struggling to get the dirt out of her mouth and lungs. Blood tinged her vision, running over her face. Her head was clearing but that was making the pain more vibrant. Her healing didn't work as fast as she would like. Something was broken. She screamed as it popped back into place before clapping a hand over her own mouth. Only a few more moments and she wouldn’t feel it at all. It didn’t matter though; rough familiar hands grabbed her and pull her through the brush. She didn’t even have the strength to cry out.

Jake had Anja on his chest when he'd been knocked back. He landed flat on his back with Leon's legs pinned underneath him. He heard Leon grunt as he fought to get off of his legs. Rough hands pushed him down and his hazy vision made out a face with at least four eyeballs more than it should have had. They were all located in the wrong places. He felt Anja's weight leave his chest and when the hands began to pull him up he swung into action. Somewhere Anja’s screams were fading into the distance.

Grabbing the closest J'avo he pulled it towards him and punched it in the face. Its face crunched in and Jake didn't need to look again to know that it was going to stay down. Other J’avo tried reaching for him with the same result. _Sherry where are you?_

He glanced around frantically for Anja or Sherry but couldn't see either. The J'avo pressed in around them when suddenly gunshots rang out. Those closest to Jake were hit, and Jake was suddenly glad that Leon was a superb marksman, because if they mutated here and now they were much too close to Jake for comfort.

"You going to shoot them in the head, or wrestle with them all day," Leon's voice sounded behind him.

Jake snatched a gun out of his side holster angry at himself for losing sight of Sherry and Anja. The J'avo were backing off. Jake pulled Leon off the ground where he was lying and they both ducked behind a large oak.

Bullets flew around them pinning them in place.

"Shit they took her.” Had they really had a shot at getting away? Jake uttered a few more expletives, while Leon lifted an eyebrow. They were both hiding behind a tree as a barrage of bullets prevented them from moving.

"Getting yourself killed won't help her get away," Leon muttered. He checked his ammo, he still had plenty of rounds left but none of that would matter if he couldn’t even peek at the target. His ankle hurt, he put a hand on it and felt around. It wasn’t broken.

"No," Jake hunkered down next to him, his faces lit up with an idea, "but maybe getting captured might."

"That’s the shittiest idea you’ve ever come up with." Leon snapped, they crushed together as another round of bullets hit the tree.

"I'm open to suggestions," Jake glared at him. “They’re obviously here for Sherry and Anja.”

“Possibly you.” Leon shook his head as he thought through the stupidity of Jake’s plan. Would Wesker expect Jake to just willingly surrender to him?

Suddenly the gunfire ceased.

"Jake," Jake tensed as the voice he was really starting to hate started speaking. Wesker was actually here, come to collect him personally. He put his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.

“Son of a bitch.” He whispered. Leon glanced at him, only nodding. Wesker had them by the balls.

"You can join us." Wesker went on. There was something different in the tone this time. Jake glanced at Leon to gauge his reaction. Leon only shook his head. Jake couldn’t quite place what was different.

"And if I don't?"

"I'll have no choice but to kill you. Sherry is staying with me no matter what. She’s essential. I need her."

Jake tensed and stood behind the tree, his hands clenched and unclenched. Leon brought himself to his feet, wincing as he did so.

Leon glanced up at him. "Knock me out."

"What?"

"Do it, do whatever you have to. Get on their team, figure out their next move. Knock me out."

Still Jake hesitated. While it was true he'd never held a gun to Leon's head like he'd done with Redfield he still didn't want to punch Leon. He actually liked the guy. Now if it had been Redfield standing here saying hit me, he would have done it with no hesitation.

"Claire is going to shoot me now." He balled a hand into a fist.

"I'll handle Claire."

Jake nodded. “We’re coming out!” He came out into the opening with his gun up and Leon next to him.

"Any day now, Rookie," Leon snapped holding his own hands up making sure they were empty.

They were both perfectly visible when Jake suddenly socked Leon in the jaw, which snapped up as Leon crumbled. Jake winced when he heard the snap but he knew Leon would wake up later with a horrible headache but he would be alive and if all went well in the next five minutes, free.

Wesker walked closer. Jake stared at the man he was starting to hate so much. The blonde hair, black shades, and long black trench coat only pissed Jake off. He studied Jake grimly for a moment as if assessing his motives. Jake considered flipping him off but let it drop for now. He could insult him later. Leon needed to be left behind, it was the only way he was going on with this stupid scenario. Behind Wesker Jake could see Sherry staring in shock. He stared at her for a moment pleading mentally with her to trust him.

"He stays," Jake said motioning to Leon lying unconscious at their feet.

Wesker nodded, he only looked amused. He moved closer to within feet of Jake and stared at him eye to eye. Jake began to wonder if this was, in fact, the same clone. He was just as tall as Jake, a fact the other hadn’t been face to face with him to find out. Jake hated the similarities he saw as Wesker pulled off his shades. Same blue eyes, chin, and nose. The glare this time was full of curiosity. This was a different clone from the last. Jake was sure of it.

“I was unaware of your existence.” Wesker started. Jake felt his stomach clench. “You’re mother…” He stopped talking and continued to study Jake. Jake felt his breathing quicken.

“You don’t get to speak about her.” He barely contained himself. Wesker was maddeningly calm. That was at least one similarity he shared with the other clone.

“Then I won’t, for now. But you, to become what you are…”

“I’m not you,” Jake spoke up. With that simple sentence, he was able to breathe normally again. Briefly, he remembered telling Sherry the same thing in the underwater base back in China. _I’m not my father, and I’m going to make damn sure that it stays that way. We're getting out of here. And you? You’re going to save the world._

Wesker switched tactics.

"You realize Jake that you are possibly the most dangerous B.O.W. here." He accentuated each letter watching as Jake flinched. Wesker lowered his voice. "But you already know that, don't you?"

Jake just stared at him but he said nothing. He fists were still clenched tight but he forced them to relax. Wesker's voice grated on his nerves. The idea that he potentially was going to be listening to this man for the next few weeks was unnerving. He assumed it would be a few weeks. Any longer…he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

Wesker nodded and then pointed to the waiting helicopter. "Come this way. I want you to know as your father, I am proud of you.”

Jake couldn’t help it. “Fuck you.” It slipped out before he could stop it. He glanced at Sherry and her face was white. He wasn’t good at this undercover job. He doubted anyone would actually believe him, but he would try to feed Leon as much info as he could.

Wesker only put his shades back on. He moved away without a backward glance at Jake.  He’d hit Jake with the worst insult Jake could think of; actually claiming him as his son.

Andrew Hardy stared back at Jake from behind Sherry a hand on her arm and a gun to her head. The Ustanak was back there as well.

When Jake started to go towards Sherry, Wesker's voice stopped him. "We'll take separate helicopters…for now. Just to be sure you are on your best behavior. We don't want Ms. Birkin to accidentally disappear again."

"Muller," Jake muttered stepping up next to him staring at Sherry.

"What was that?" Wesker turned around.

"Her name is Sherry Muller. If you are dragging me into this shit show at least get your facts straight." He then turned towards the other helicopter straightened his shoulders and braced himself for whatever was to come. He said nothing as he sat across from the Ustanak of all creatures. It too had been created from the C-virus, he had started to think of them all as a particular set of creatures. This one wasn’t too different from the others he’d encountered. He stared at it and looked towards Sherry’s helicopter. The helicopters kicked up dust and ash as they heaved into the air. He kept his eyes glued on the helicopter with Sherry and Anja riding in it.

Leon had said to do what he had to, but he honestly couldn't figure a way out of this. The worst part? He was still armed to the teeth. Wesker had been cocky enough to leave him his weapons, body armor, you name it.  Not that they would do much good against the creature sitting before him. He’d doubted he could get the chest plate off without being tossed out of the helicopter first.

Wesker had no weaknesses, he wasn’t sentimental. How did you fight something like that? Worse, he’d called Jake the most dangerous B.O.W. here, Jake wondered what he’d meant by that. What did he know that Jake didn’t?


	19. Chapter 19

Ada made her way out the door, only to find no one there. Nothing. Where was she? Amusement filled her. Wesker had always been a clever bastard, but this took the cake. Even Simmons wasn’t this clever. Bright sunshine greeted her and she raised a hand to her face to block out the light as she took in her surroundings. Wherever she was, Wesker hadn’t been. He’d only observed her.

The air smelled of smoke, and a lot of it.

The real Wesker had returned. There was no room for anymore doubt. Ada inhaled deeply remembering all she’d been through to double cross him. The details, she put out of her mind. What did he know? The man was undeniably brilliant, but he’d kept her alive, more than once because she’d been useful. Even when she didn’t follow orders as directly as he would have liked.

He always seemed to treat his assets like useful toys, discarding them when they no longer amused him.

This was a reminder. Her hand balled into a fist and she moved out into the forest. The white tennis shoes were nothing like her usual footwear. The bright colored scrubs were definitely outside her normal attire.

First, she needed some real clothes, her weapons, and maybe she’d figure out where she was.

Two helicopters roared overhead and she ducked back into the building. Making a quick decision she headed in the direction they were flying in. She was either going to get help or figure out her location.

The reading material provided had been interesting enough. It was a message to her personally. They’d made another clone of her. The documentation was a description of the work of Carla Radames, a brilliant scientist turned into the original clone of Ada.

The last document was a photo of herself at an helicopter landing pad with Leon and Jake.  The dates listed were impossible. Not that she could tell how much time she’d lost necessarily but she was fairly certain she’d been in Wesker Jr.’s care that day.

But Leon would have known that.

She wondered what else she had “done.”

* * *

 

 

 

Jill sat wedged in between Chris and Claire. The helicopter ride had been uneventful until a wildfire had scoured the area. Black ashy patches with smoke still rising in some location obscured their vision. She had a fist of fear in her stomach at the prospect of facing Wesker again. Part of her looked forward to it, to see what she could do. The other part of cowered at the thought. What if he took her again? Jill wasn't someone used to backing down from her fears. 

“There!” Chris’s voice popped through the headsets they were all wearing. She immediately looked to the right, his side, and spotted what he was talking about.

It was a black helicopter lying on its side. The blades were, one side looked melted, the glass was shattered inside of it. US. Government in faded lettering could be seen.

“Probably what Leon rode in on.” Jill looked over at Claire who had paled considerably. She reached over and grabbed her hand. “I’m pretty sure you need to find his body first before I’d believe he was dead. He has more lives than a cat.”

“I’ve got his signal,” Chris answered before Claire could respond. He’s definitely not there. Both his and Jake’s signal are about a mile into the city.” Claire nodded at him. She remembered the last time she and Leon were here.  Her grip tightened on her seat. So many people over the years they’d lost. And yet things kept swinging back here. Claire didn’t believe in any higher power but in this moment she couldn’t help but think of the irony of those who were here.

“Earth to Claire.” Claire glanced over at her sister-in-law. Jill had her attention and pointed to open window. “There,” Jill’s voice filled her headphones. “Set down there.”

“We should be right on top of them.” Chris said straining to look out of his side of the air craft.

“We are.” Claire stared at Leon’s prone form below them.

* * *

 

 

Jake came to see Sherry around noon. He’d been poked and prodded long enough, and even the Ustanak wasn’t enough to keep him quiet. He’d been blindfolded after he’d gotten off the helicopter but he simply counted his steps and turns. He’d been running through alleys half blind in the dark amidst gunfire since he was a kid. A blind fold wasn’t going to keep him lost.

They'd kept Anja with Sherry but kept them both locked up in a comfortable room. She was guarded by Andrew Hardy the pilot who'd originally taken her but Andrew made sure to stay out of Jake's path. He knew if it came down to it, Jake would pound him to a pulp, he wasn’t stupid.

It was also the only way to insure Jake's "good behavior."

Jake stared at the door for a moment. He wasn’t sure what he was going to see, but he knew the fact that they were both in there meant he’d failed somehow. They’d all failed Sherry again, just like before. He pushed that thought out of his mind. They were both alive. Leon was still out there, hopefully. They had a plan… of sorts.  All Jake had to do was keep his cool.

If he could just start by going through the door and seeing his own wife, he’d be off to a great start.  He put his hand against the steel and took a deep breath remembering Sherry’s expression when he’d punched Leon. He hoped she’d at least hear him out. There was no time for an explanation to a plan he and Leon came up with at the last minute.

He glanced down the hall and spotted Hardy staring at him. The man’s face still sported the telltale bruising of the punches Jake had given him. He kept his distance but he was also carrying a weapon that would work faster than Jake could move if he tried anything. He gave the man who as supposed to be his brother a smirk. Whatever kept the man on edge. He couldn’t believe the man was supposed to be his half-brother.

He turned the knob and went in. The door would open and close from the outside but on the inside, it was locked. The room was cast in a warm light and was in stark contrast to the surrounding buildings. Outside this room they were very much in a lab… complete with the lab coats Jake hated seeing, the exam tables, etc.

But here, it was almost homey. There was a crib in the corner, a diaper table, a huge bed on one side of the room.  There was a private bathroom off to the side. It was one of the most comfortable prison cells Jake had ever been in. There was even a small bookshelf with children’s books off to the side. Jake shuddered. He hadn’t planned on being here that long.

In fact Sherry was standing in front of it and when she heard the door closed she dropped a book and ran to him throwing herself in his arms. His arms automatically went around her and he squeezed her tightly to his chest in relief.

"Jake?" Sherry almost couldn't believe it was him.

"You didn't think I was going to leave you alone here?" Anja was snoozing in the crib provided. It was a beautiful carved white wood with soft sheets and a mobile. He couldn’t imagine how much was spent on everything in this room. He moved closer to stare at Anja, she seemed for the most part to be ok. He put a hand on his daughter's head while keeping a firm grip on Sherry.

"No," She whispered into his chest, trembling. "They've already been here and drawn blood from both of us. What is happening?"

"Leon said to do what I had to," Jake started explaining. "So right now I'm blending in. Until--"

"Take Anja and leave." Her voice was muffled into his chest.

"I'm not leaving you here."

"Please Jake, I'm not like the rest of you…I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't have the C-virus antibodies. Sooner or later they'll be done with me. You two have a better chance."

"Not like me?" Jake recoiled like he'd been slapped. He dropped his arms and stared at her. Up until that moment Sherry was the only person he considered like himself. Certainly not Wesker and his ilk. Even if they shared the same DNA. He repeatedly told himself he wasn’t his father. He would never do what his father had done.

"I didn't mean you were just like them." Sherry said stepping toward him holding her hands out. "Please Jake, I'm not going to survive whatever they've got planned. I'm just an experiment here. They are using me. You and Anja though, you have to get her out."

Jake stared at her. The phrase "not like the rest of you," was still ringing in his ears. Sherry had to know how much that hurt. She must have seen something he hadn’t yet. There must be more test tube baby Wesker’s besides Hardy boy out in the hall. His fists clenched.

He backed away his back hitting the wall. Just then the door opened and Wesker’s head poked in. “Ah, knew I’d find you here.” Jake and Sherry both paused and turned to stare at him.

“What do you want?” Jake bit the words out. He was glad for the interruption though.

“There is something I need you to see.”

“And?”

“And it’s not a request.” Wesker’s voice hardened and Jake found himself moving to the door. He glanced back at Sherry apologetically. Looking forward he was greeted with three gun barrels and the Ustanak himself. His had been removed upon arrival, even his Glock would have been handy.

Jake emerged into the hallway. "How did you find your accommodations?" Wesker fell into step next to him. The others, followed behind with the large frame of the Ustanak taking up the entire hallway and bringing up the rear.

"Those are mine?"

"I figured you'd want to share a room with Ms. B—I mean Mrs. Muller." Wesker spread out his hands. "We aren't the enemy here Jake. I just need Sherry's DNA. She's free to remain in the facility. But I need both of you." He was different. This Wesker, Jake couldn’t quite figure him out.

“Where’s the other clone.”

“Other clone?”

“The one who injected me with Sherry’s G-virus sample.”  Jake was still walking. The long tunnel reminded him of some of the bomb shelters they had in Edonia. There were many underground systems in use just for getting away. He remembered joking about half the country living underground.

“I’m him.”

Jake stopped. He pushed the man against the wall. Wesker didn’t fight back, but he signaled the other men to stay back.

“You…” His voice was low and he was so close to losing it.

“I have my memories back. That was kind of the point of the project.” He stared at Jake.

“Project Resurrection.” Jake breathed out, relaxing his hold on Wesker.

“You have been paying attention. Good.” Jake stepped back from Wesker. 

“So you think you’re actually him.”

“Yes.”

“You’re just a cheap copy of a bastard that should’ve stayed dead.”

“You wound me, Jake.” Wesker’s voice dripped sarcasm. But he turned and continued walking as if Jake hadn’t just pinned him to the wall. After a moment Jake followed him. Wesker had wanted to show him something.

"We've been working on making the virus stronger," said Wesker turning away from him. "And we did it, but we can't replicate Mrs. Muller's sample."

Jake's curiosity was piqued. "Why not?"

Wesker's expression remained placid. "I don't know. I was hoping she could tell me, maybe she knows something her father did. But for now, we'll just have to keep studying her and Anja."

Jake tensed. "She's not your guinea pig."

Wesker held up his hands. "No but right now she is the key unlocking the original G-virus. Her father out did himself there."

"You tried bringing him back?" Jake was being sarcastic, but something crossed Wesker's face before he smoothed it over again. Jake caught it. "You didn’t…."

"Follow me, Jake." He turned on his heel. They went on a long path into another facility. Jake glancing around memorizing every detail. Through an open door a long hallway into a lab.

A man in a lab coat stood there. He stood gazing into a cage where a J'avo stood. He turned to Wesker.

"Albert, you found this? This is incredible," he stopped when he noticed Jake, who tensed.

"It is," agreed Albert. "Have you gotten the samples of the G virus I gave you?"

"Yes, I did, I still don't understand how it was lost. How long was I in the hospital? Was all of our work destroyed?"

"No, but we've come a little ways while you were out." He put a hand on the clone of Sherry's father's shoulder. "I'm sorry about Annette and Sherry, William."

William Birkin, or rather his clone studied Jake before turning back to Wesker again. "I wish I knew who was responsible…."

"We'll find them." Wesker said. "I was just showing one of our newbies around."

William again turned to Jake looking up at him. "Are you a scientist?"

"Mercenary," Jake responded shortly. He couldn't believe this was Sherry's father. Or what he looked like.

At 'Mercenary' William dismissed Jake and turned back to Wesker. "You want me to combine the samples?" He was completely involved in his work. Jake despised him already.

He couldn't be Sherry's father. She was nothing like him. Jake studied the light brown hair that reached William's ears. His lab coat and gray pants underneath. It all screamed scientist to Jake.

"First work on replicating the sample."

"I know you said it was the G-virus, but it's different," said Birkin.

"It has mutated." This time it was Wesker who tensed slightly.

"Can I see the host?" Birkin's excitement level was rising.

Jake felt his anger growing with each word. He glanced over at the tank with the J'avo inside. The J'avo that used to be a man. It stared out of its cylindrical cage and Jake knew that if released and ordered it would fight him to the death. Mutating the whole way until it was no longer recognizable as human. It’s one eye right in the original place but it's other eye on the forehead, and a myriad of small eyes all thanks to the new C-Virus.

Birkin had no problem with the fact that this was once a man.  _Hell_ , Jake thought,  _he probably injected the virus into the man himself and then stood there and watched._

Jake suddenly had a flashback to the argument he'd had with Sherry when they were escaping an underwater Neo-Umbrella facility.  _I'm not my father_ , he'd told her vehemently.  _And I'm going to make damned sure that it stays that way. We're getting out of here, and you're going to save the world._ _He’d meant every word and it had been a game changing speech to Sherry who’d been adamant about rescuing her friends. Friends that she was so sure she and Jake could save. It was the first moment she truly realized he was on her side and maybe not in it for the money. At least not anymore._

So what was he doing here in this lab, upset at her for what she had said earlier. He knew she would never think she was truly like Wesker. Shame washed over him when he remembered how he’d reacted and left her trapped in that room with Anja. He should be finding a way out of here. Not standing here speaking with the ghost of her father. The ghosts of both of their fathers.

His eyes flicked up to catch Birkin staring at him. He had been deep in thought and was not paying attention to their conversation.  _Way to go,_  Jake, he thought.  _Supposed to be figuring out what was going on._

"I said are you a relative of Albert's?" Jake was taken back and wasn't sure how to respond. Albert grinned at him.

"He is," said Albert lifting an eye brow at Jake.

"Distant." Jake said at the same time. He still couldn't figure out what to do with this information.

"We won't disturb you any longer," said Wesker. "I'll have plenty of C-Virus antibodies at your disposal soon."

"And the G-Virus host?" Birkin voice was hopeful. Jake clenched his fists together. He himself was carrying the mixed C and G viruses.

"I'll work on getting it." Wesker nodded. William nodded, looked at Jake again and returned to his computer. There were samples everywhere in this room, not just subjects. Jake shuddered. _It, he means her_. Jake's expression was dark as he followed Wesker out of the labs again.

"Do you think Sherry will cooperate once she's seen her father?" Wesker asked once they were outside. He was still walking in front of Jake, and all the pent-up rage Jake was feeling spilled over. He grabbed Wesker from behind and shoved him against the wall again.

Wesker held up a hand to a guard who tried coming to his rescue even with Jake's hands pinning him to the wall. "What was that?" Jake snarled into his face.

"William Birkin, he was truly a genius, another mind gone too soon. I'm glad we decided on the memory overlays even if he spent most of his time obsessing over the G-Virus." Wesker's composure did not waver.

"And you are just going to let him take Sherry." It was a statement.

"Not if she cooperates willingly," Wesker said. "Birkin may be the only mind who can figure out a way to replicate the virus. The original host, unfortunately, is long dead."

"Things that are long dead should stay that way," Jake responded stepping back. He released his grip on Wesker and strolled up the hallway alone. He didn't want anything else but Sherry and Anja right now. The J'avo in the cylindrical container flashed in his mind again. It had been moving, beating its fists against the glass on occasion. There had been no sound coming from the tube. It was completely soundproofed he realized. Sherry could sit in there and yell at her father for hours and he would never hear her. Worse, he'd be the one to experiment on her.

He moved to the room, no one followed him. He had no escorts this time. Perhaps Wesker wanted to give a moment in good faith.

"Sherry—" He skidded to a halt. She was asleep on the bed with Anja laying next to her. He stared at them. How did he tell her?

_Your father has been cloned._

_He's working on the G-Virus again._

_They're not going to let you go._

He moved closer and noted her cheeks were streaked with tears. Those were his fault, he remembered fleeing the room earlier. He reached out to touch her arm but hesitated. Did he even deserve her?

Sherry opened her eyes suddenly seeing Jake reached for him with a speed that surprised him. "Oh my god, Jake!" She pulled him down and hugged herself into his chest as his arms automatically wrapped around her.

"Sherry," he whispered her name into her hair. "I saw someone…and…"

"Who?" She tensed against his chest.

"They made a clone of…" He hesitated. He really didn't want to say it out loud.

"Who is it?" She pulled back and looked up at him. Her eyes told him she was already suspicious. "It's my father isn't it."

Jake nodded, catching her as she slumped against him.

"Why him?" She gasped. "Didn't he do enough damage for one lifetime?"

"His research killed him," Jake said, remembering what Sherry had told him before.

"Yes," She whispered as he held her. "Only after he injected himself with it, and then me. The only thing that mattered to them, him was that Virus. He can't be…" She stopped herself and simply sat there trembling as Jake's arms tightened around her.

Here they were back at the Arklay laboratory. Jake hoped that Leon was coming with some sort of plan. He was starting to see exactly what Project Resurrection was. A knot of fear sank into his stomach.

Who else was out there? Who else had Wesker brought back?


	20. Chapter 20

Leon felt a hand on his forehead. Someone said his name, but it sounded so far away that he couldn’t tell who it was. The hand left his forehead and the murmuring went with it. His eyelids wouldn’t obey as he tried to push them open. The hand was back gently pushing his hair off his forehead.

He groaned this time his eyelids obeyed and opened only for him to slam them shut again against the light that barraged in, making his eyes sting.

"Ada?" He asked seeing the dark feminine figure leaning over him.

"Not even close." Claire's voice colored with amusement came back.

Leon reached out and gripped her arm. "Claire? How did you find me?"

"Well, you have both yours and Jake's trackers on you." Chris's voice came from the right. "And you gave them to us because the DSO is shady. It was pretty easy. Where's Jake? Sherry?"

Claire pulled Leon up into a sitting position before resting him against a tree. He groaned again and felt his jaw. Jake had given him a good sucker punch. But in all fairness, he’d literally asked for it. He’d give the kid hell about it later. If he remembered, and they both survived. Leon had looked in the mirror lately and noticed a few lines of grey popping up here and there. A reminder that he wasn’t immortal and couldn’t do this forever.

Beyond Chris, Jill sat watching him, studying him. Her pale skin and hair were a reminder of her time as Wesker’s captive. He shifted his focus back to the current situation.

"He was taken," He flicked a glance at Claire wondering how to explain fully. Claire who had been watching him lifted an eyebrow. She didn’t miss much.

"I sense a but in there…" Claire shifted to a sitting position, her hand resting on her knees and her chin resting on her hands as she looked at him.

"They took Sherry first; we were overwhelmed by J'avo after rescuing her. We had to hide in a basement from the fire."

"Yeah we couldn't get in because of that." Chris pulled out a water canteen and handed it to Leon. He took it gratefully gulping down a few mouthfuls before continuing.

"When we got out we didn't make it very far. We had her…." Leon paused to take another drink. "And then the J'avo showed up. They took her, Wesker's clone was there. Trying to get Jake to join…" It was the wrong way to phrase it and Leon mentally kicked himself as soon as the words came out.

"He went." Claire's voice was flat. Her expression matched her tone of voice, as if she’d known it all along. Claire normally saw the best in everyone, it was where Sherry had picked up the idea, but whereas Sherry could look past Jake’s parentage, probably because of her own parents, Claire had lost a lot to Wesker. Jake was a living reminder that Wesker had existed. A reminder that she couldn’t let go of. His physical resemblance to Wesker was too much for her to bear.

"He had to." Leon responded glancing at her. "They had Sherry. He said he would execute us, but he was taking Sherry anyway." He reached over and grabbed Claire’s hand. “It was my idea for him to go. We needed a man on the inside. He was perfect for the job.”

Claire only sighed but Chris nodded. He had seen Jake protect Sherry even before realizing how close they were. Jill herself was nodding. Unlike Claire, Jill saw no resemblance between the two men. Jake didn’t even faze her.

"Anyway, I told him to hit me…"

"HE did this?" Claire was surprised again. Leon cursed under his breath as she pushed himself up higher against the tree.

"I told him to…"

"He didn't want to do this either I suppose."

"No," Leon's voice was firm. "He didn't. He’s my partner Claire, not some megalomaniac psycho with a hard-on for world domination."

"Ok enough," Chris had listened to the exchange as much as he could stand. "What is our next move?"

“Did you at least locate the base?” Jill glanced around the burned-out forest, glad they hadn’t brought too many guys with them. Chris didn’t want anyone seeing what she was capable of, but between the two of them, Jill with her abilities, they probably wouldn’t need them.

"It's here," Leon said twisting to look around. Most of the place had been burned out, surprisingly there were a lot of trees still standing, charred but standing. He hadn't noticed it yesterday when those explosions had gone off.

Chris grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. He stood and after taking another gulp of water handed the mostly empty canteen back to Chris who hooked it to his belt.

"It's here," Leon repeated himself. He glanced around, “We thought the bombing destroyed everything but we’re standing on it.” Chris nodded. Somehow it wasn’t as much of a surprise to him that most of the labs had been underground.

"Why would they come back here?" Claire asked, goosebumps rising on her bare arms.

"Sentimentality?" Leon grunted. His jaw ached. He'd get Jake back later. Right now, he had better be working on the best way to make Jake look like he wasn't a traitor. He suspected Claire was going to be the hardest to convince. But he wasn't sure how Hunnigan, or even the higher-ups back at the DSO would take this. Hopefully, they didn’t know anything yet. Jake had to maintain absolute loyalty to the government, otherwise, he would always be suspect.  While he knew Jake could manage always being loyal to Sherry, the government was a different story altogether. Even Leon was having trouble with the idea that there was a leak and had been since they’d brought Jake back.  He’d have to find it eventually when he wasn’t too busy chasing Wesker’s cloned prodigy all over the place. The man was crazy, but he was also brilliant. A high IQ didn’t always equal common sense.

"Chris can you even be here?" Leon asked looking over at him. “Noticing the lack of back up.”

"I'm on vacation," said Chris grinning. He was armed to the teeth. Leon looked down at his vest, checking his own arsenal. His knife was still on him, surprisingly his 9mm remained where it was on his hip. They must have simply left him there in the dirt.

"You pick the worst vacations," Leon said grinning.

"The way I hear it, so do you." Chris laughed referencing Leon’s trip to the ESR. Leon was supposedly on vacation but since war could start anywhere anytime and people found all kinds of uses for B.O.W.s his vacation had been cut short.

"Glad you're here anyway, my helicopter kind of roasted in that fire before we could get back to it." Leon shrugged. He was messy, but he got the job done. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still be on the job.

"Won't your boss be mad?" Claire only looked amused. Leon breathed a sigh of relief. A smile was better than her staying angry the whole time. He hated playing buffer between them.

"I've got a running tab…" Leon smiled back at her. They knew what to expect. They dropped him in and he figured things out. They expected him to do the job even when they told him the mission was canceled. They had to cover their own asses anyway. He was insurance. If he found nothing he probably would lose his job. But he had never not found anything, no matter how many times he’d been told to stand down.

The burned-out forest wasn't giving them too many clues to work with about what lay beneath.


	21. Chapter 21

 

The creature sat in the glass cage.

It used to be human. In fact, it used to be one of Wesker's test tube offspring.

   _"Neman."_  Jake practically hissed the Edonian name for a demon under his breath.  Its appearance had startled him. 

Jake stared, he wasn't sure if he was switching between awe or shock. The tube of glass was at least two inches thick. He, Jake knew he had been a man at one time, looked out of the tube with suddenly interested eyes. It stood up. It was tall, taller than a foot by the Ustanak in the room. Its skin was a glossy gray, stretched taut over well-developed muscles. Whatever clothing it had once worn hung in tatters around its waist. The fingernails had fallen off and been replaced by retractable claws. Even the feet had them. It was as if Wesker had crossed a human with a hairless feline. Its eyes were in place but were a shiny black. Jake knew many Edonians believed in demons, as Edonia was a fairly superstitious country. This fit the bill entirely. It scrutinized him. Jake had the feeling that intelligence lurked there, more so than any in this room possessed. It opened its jaws and yawned and two rows of pointed teeth greeted Jake. He took a step back vaguely under the impression that he was the one being observed and the creature could leave anytime it wanted to.  _Holy Shit, I need to get Sherry out of here._

The Ustanak waiting on the other side of the group glanced Jake's way and as Jake met its eyes he saw fear there.   _Maybe even it knows they've gone too far this time._

"What was that you said?" Wesker responded, turning around interrupting Jake's panicked round of thoughts.

"Neman," Jake said. "It's an Edonian word for a demon...because that's what the fuck that is."

"Aren't we a bit superstitious?" Birkin, or rather his clone, came up beside Wesker and smiled patiently at Jake. "I admit this isn't what we were going for, but THIS, THIS creature is amazing."

Wesker spared him a glance before turning back to Jake. "Why didn't it work on him?"

"It worked rather well."

"You know what I mean, William."

Birkin sighed. "I am not sure, is there someone it did work on?"

Wesker eyed Jake rather pointedly. He heard the click of a handgun behind him and knew that a guard had put a bead on him. Not that he needed the reminders. Sherry was still trapped in that room to keep promoting his good behavior.

"He's my son," Wesker said to Birkin. Birkin froze and eyed Jake again. "I was beginning to wonder why you kept him around, he's not a scientist and he doesn't work with the guards. But he doesn't resemble you so much. I wouldn't have guessed. And he's older, what did you do have a fling as a teenager?" Jake had never heard anyone talk so flippantly to Wesker, he was a little stunned.

Wesker looked uncomfortable for the first time simply responded with. "In a manner of speaking."

Jake, however, was surprised. He caught a lot of flak for resembling Wesker and here Birkin was saying he didn't resemble him? He would have loved the guy if he didn't know his history. Birkin turned to him holding his hand out. "Hold out your arm, Jake."

Jake held it out after a warning glance from Wesker. His eyes flicked back to the tube and noted the creature in the cage watched the scene with interest placing it's clawed hands on the glass, its black eyes taking in every detail. Again Jake was disturbed by the thought that the creature could easily escape if it wanted to. He wondered what it was waiting for.

Wesker jabbed a penknife into his arm suddenly and Jake who had been paying more attention to the creature in the cage yelled when it went through. Birkin, however, surged forward with interest latching onto Jake's wrist as Wesker pulled out the knife again. It was deep but the hole began to close up instantly in front of his eyes. "Incredible." He whispered completely awed.

Jake jerked his arm away.

"So why didn't it work on the pilot?"

 _The pilot?_  Jake briefly remembered the pilot who had kidnapped Sherry, mostly him screaming as the Ustanak carried him off.  _What had Sherry called him? Andrew something-or-other?_

"That's what I want you to find out William," Wesker said. "What is different between Jake here, and the others."

"The others, you mean they all look like that." Jake indicated the creature in the cave. Wesker gave Birkin a sharp glance, his eyes narrowed. He took a step forward for the first time physically threatening Birkin.

"All of them, Birkin?"

"No, not all of them," Birkin pushed his glasses up his nose. "Anna refused the shot. It's a good thing she did."

 _Anna?_ Jake filed the name away for later. So there was at least one test tube sibling still out there, maybe more...

"Jake, what did you call it?" Wesker was staring at him, his face pensive.

Jake's attention, however, was drawn to the creature in the glass tube. He uttered an oath in Edonian as comprehension dawned on him. It was standing at full height.  _Was that... Andrew?_

"Just a moment!" Birkin ignored the creature completely as he jabbed a needle into Jake's arm. 

Jake's fist swung out in response as Birkin drew blood. But it was caught in the air by the Ustanak barely inches from Birkin's head. It had been a clumsy swing on Jake's part, he was too discomfited by the idea that the man he'd seen earlier helping Wesker was potentially the creature in the cage.

"Neman is a good name for the creature isn't it Birkin?" Wesker, ignoring Jake's reaction, stared at the creature who eyed Jake the whole time. 

Jake could only shudder. "Well, it's not winning any beauty contests anytime soon." He'd wrenched his hand free offering a short glare at the Ustanak like creature. 

The creature tossed its short blond hair. Now that Jake was looking he could definitely see Andrew Hardy's hair. But it was graying at the roots matching the pallor of the rest of its skin.

"I would love a pure sample of the G-virus to work with." Birkin, "And you said there was an infant? Could they be brought here?"

Jake snarled and moved forward grabbing Birkin by the coat and hoisting him into the air. Guns clicked again, the Ustanak moved forward before being stopped by Wesker.

"Listen here you son of a bitch, you stay away from my wife and daughter," Jake got out.

Birkin's eyes widened. "I see," he said glancing between Jake and Wesker. Wesker snapped his fingers and the Ustanak put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a painful warning squeeze. Even at 6'3" Jake was still dwarfed by the creature.

"Put him down Jake," Wesker said. "He's only going to figure out why this happened with the G and C combo, the Immortality Virus. We may need to run further tests. No harm will come to either of them."

Jake paused and slowly lowered Birkin to the floor. Then and only then did the Ustanak's hand come off. It moved away from him. Jake turned eyeing the creature, whose eyes followed the Ustanak across the room as it moved. He wasn't surprised to see the Ustanak keeping a wary eye on the creature in the tank.

Birkin was badly shaken but recovered quickly. "Of course not," he said as if Jake had somehow offended him.

"I think it's best if you went and saw them now," Wesker offered as if Jake wasn't a prisoner here. Jake could only nod visibly enraged. He glanced over at the glass tube again, he could have sworn the creature winked at him. It cocked its head at him and he shuddered. They had at least 8 more of these things in this facility.

Jake's ears caught the sound of nails on the glass before anyone else did. 

The Ustanak had a firm grip on his arm almost painfully wrenching as Birkin drew another sample of his blood. Jake had submitted knowing Sherry was still in trapped in the room. She might heal but she could still feel pain. He never doubted that Wesker would hurt Sherry for a second. After all, he'd put a knife to Jake's throat and cut it in front of Sherry. Jake had at that point understood exactly why Sherry had so many nightmares after her experience in China.

His eyes flicked away from the glass as he wondered briefly where the rest of the Nemans were. Wesker had most of the offspring and the transformation process had gone so terribly wrong they'd been sedated right away and put into secure holding. Jake had not been allowed to see that. There was at least one survivor, an Anna. 

Oddly enough Wesker was still trying to convince him that he needed to be on his side.

"Creating a world truly worth myself and those like me is worth the sacrifices I'm making."

"Well, aren't you just full of good old fashion altruism." Snapped Jake.  _All those people turned into whatever they were?_

"If you truly understood what I was doing you would be helping me, not hindering me," Wesker said not turning around.

"Kidnapping my wife and child? No fuck you." Jake replied, his hands balling into fists. The Ustanak's grip tightened painfully under his arm. Birkin didn't say a word. He was in his own world.

"One for the good of the rest is a burden placed on some people."

"Only because of bastards like you," Jake snapped. He paused, not really caring what Wesker said or did, only studying the room. Leon had said to give him time to get around so that's what he was going to do. Even if that meant he had to listen to Wesker prattle on all day. Wesker may have colored in terms of what was good for everyone, but he was the one who would be on top. 

This time Wesker did turn around and gave Jake a studied measuring look. Jake stared back, equally defiant.

"Jake, I understand that you might hate me, but in this new world, I'm creating...someone like you and Sherry would be welcome. You've already proven yourself worthy by surviving the C-Virus. Intentional or not you are here."

"In chains?"

"No, with me you'll be free to walk around."

"And my wife?" He glanced over at Birkin for a moment who had taken out a microscope and was studying the contents across the room.

"I need her DNA."

"Why?"

Wesker hesitated. "Her combination is unique like I said before." He made a motion and the Ustanak dropped Jake's arms. Jake remained where he was. Waiting, listening. Wesker took this for a small amount of compliance before continuing on. "Like I said before, I don't know if it's just her or the circumstances under which she acquired it."

There was a loud crack.

Jake tensed, even the Ustanak dropped his arm and stepped away.

The tube where the Neman was trapped in was cracked. The creature inside punched through the glass with ease, muscles rippling under its skin as it moved. Everyone in the lab froze.


	22. Chapter 22

 

Ada surveyed the creature in front of her. So far it hadn't noticed a single weaponless woman dressed in nurses scrubs out in the forest. That was possibly a point in her favor. Perhaps it had no extrasensory abilities like some of the creatures she'd come across. In her line of work, she'd killed some incredible creatures. If she had stopped long enough to think about it, the fact that they existed at all was amazing. Of course, if she'd stopped long enough to think about it, she would have been long dead. 

It wore tatters around its waist and shoulders. But other than that, it didn't carry any weapons. Its muscles rippled as it moved with astounding grace, the retractable claws in its hand stretching out as it reached above its head to touch the leaves of a tree. It was at least 9 or 10 feet tall. The face split into a demonic grin, as the jaws, filled with two rows of pointed teeth split the face almost evenly. The inky black eyes stood in sharp contrast to the smooth grey skin. It still had hair on the back of its head, that was white at the roots and a brunette at the top, betraying the human part that it had mutated from. 

Ada stepped on a stick. Suddenly the black eyes zeroed in on her, and her famous bravado deserted her. It couldn't see her yet, but it knew she was there, or something was there watching it. 

It crouched low, and Ada saw behind it the body of a guard, shredded and torn, weapons still attached. The long barrel of a sniper rifle looked like a Christmas gift to Ada, if only she could get to it. She didn't have a chance.

Voices sounded in the distance. The creature's attention switched to the others and Ada felt her life flash before her eyes. It dropped to all fours in a crouch and went silently into the brush. It was a full ten minutes before Ada could stop shaking long enough to go for the rifle.

She could move silently if she wanted to, but even with her capabilities, she was no match for that monstrosity. With trembling hands, she picked up every weapon the dead guard had been carrying, not caring if there was blood on it. She just wanted to get out of here. 

His chest had been sliced neatly open, as had his throat. He sported several puncture wounds. She doubted the guy had seen it coming.

Loaded she slowly stood full height, her ears straining. To survive she was going to have to shoot that thing from a distance. No one would be able to survive against it one on one. 

The voices in the distance turned to screams. Ada began to stalk her much more dangerous quarry.

 

Wesker's eyes narrowed and he glanced at Birkin. "I thought you said those were impenetrable."

"They are," said Birkin backing away. "Bullets can't get through...they were tested..."

The glass shattered as the creature shoved its way out in a way that suggested it had just about enough of being trapped. It smiled showing off its pointed teeth. Outside it stretched to its full height. Even taller than the Ustanak, which was 9 feet, it wasn't nearly as wide. The teeth resembled sharp pointed needles within an enlarged jaw with an opening that split the creatures face in half. The eyes were jet black with no iris that was visible. The fingers carried retractable claws which pulled back in with a snap as it moved with surprising speed and grace to the computers.

Ignoring every human in the room it moved to the computer and squatted in front of it rippling its muscles under the dark gray skin as it did so.

Jake like everyone else in the room looked up at the monstrosity in front of them but he was the first to come out of the trance.

Even the Ustanak had backed off the creature.  _Is it actually trembling?_  Jake thought as he backed behind the Ustanak towards the door. He looked towards Wesker and noticed him doing the same. Even Birkin had managed to move towards the exit. Although Birkin looked like he was going to be sick and was holding his stomach.

So far the Neman hadn't made a single threatening move towards anyone in the room, however, it was a nightmare to look at.

If Jake hadn't been so thoroughly affected by fighting B.O.W.s in his own life as a mercenary he probably would be standing in the lab still.

He was suddenly slipping out of the doors quietly, and when his back hit the opposite wall he started running for Sherry's cell as fast as he could. His gut said all hell was about to break loose.

 

Jake burst through the doors. The idea that the Neman had once been a half sibling was disgusting enough. He didn't like how Birkin had looked when Wesker asked him why Jake was different. Jake could sniff out guilt easily enough. His own mother had plenty of it, though she never explained to Jake the particulars, leaving him with just a note that his father would find him one day.

Well, he had, but Jake seriously doubted this was what she'd been expected or hoped for.

He bumped into a shorter woman waiting just outside the door. The red hair caught him off guard and his jaw dropped. "Mati???" He got out in his native tongue. The woman stared at him.

She pulled a hair behind her ear. "I don't think we've met." She put out a hand. "Anna." Even her accent spoke of Edonia.

Jake just stared, his mouth an "O" of surprise and he couldn't shake himself out of his stupor. Wesker may not have known about him.... But that hadn't stopped him from using his mother's DNA.

Anna dropped the hand. Her lab coat had several pens and pencils stuck in. Her blue eyes matched Jake's, and she had the same sharp chin he did. But she had a smaller nose that he didn't inherit. He was dumbfounded.  _That son of a bitch_. She looked so much like his mother that he wondered if she'd been cloned or if she was a sibling.

Her gaze turned frosty. "If you aren't going to introduce yourself, get out of my way. I work here."

"Ah, Jake, I don't believe you've met Anna." Wesker had come out of the doors behind him. "Anna invented the memory overlay that I use. She's quite a genius." 

"That's my---" He started.

Wesker cut him off. "Jake I think you were on your way to see your wife. That's where we're all going. Anna? You too." His voice held a warning tone. Jake clapped his mouth shut but his legs felt like rubber. He turned back to see Anna staring at him, openly curious now. His mouth worked and he put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Wesker kept his gaze on him. "Anna, go ahead to the G-virus subject's room."

She nodded and moved forward.

"What the hell was that?" Jake finally got out, rounding on Wesker. Wesker only lifted an eyebrow.

"I see you are beginning to understand the scope of Project: Resurrection."

"The scope of it... Is that her?" He crossed his arms, hoping against hope that he didn't vomit all over the floor which was all he wanted to do right now.

"Jake." Wesker's voice brought him back to the present. "Go see Sherry." He turned around to see Birkin slowly edging out of the door behind him. 

He could only nod. His mind was racing. He couldn't process both of these things at the same time. Wesker had brought back Sherry's Father and his Mother.

He didn't remember making it to the room, only suddenly finding himself on his knees in the safe room where they kept Sherry and Anja. Sherry's arm wrapped around his shoulders tightly as he stared blankly in front of him. Anna was somewhere outside the door. She hadn't gone in, only dipped her head as Jake went by. He told himself she wasn't his mother, but he couldn't stop himself from shaking as he moved by her.

"Jake, what is it?" Sherry whispered into his ear. Anja was asleep.

"It's all kinds of fucked," He wrapped his arm around her in return. "Sherry... I just saw my mother out there. She's dead... She..."

"Shhhh, oh god, Jake." Sherry didn't know what else to say.

"She's dead," He whispered again to himself. She hadn't recognized him at all, but why would she? This woman had never even given birth, never went through the sickness, easily cured anywhere else. His mother had chosen to hide in a third world country rather than be found by Wesker again. What had she known?

Wesker was a sick bastard but he wasn't that sentimental... At least as far as Jake could figure out he wasn't. Jake had nothing to offer, but here he was. Wesker didn't need a successor, he had his cloning process...

...and yet, he'd brought back Jake's mother, fresh and beautiful before her illness.

Jake shuddered.  _What the hell is your game plan, old man?_

Then the scream started, followed by thumps that Jake knew were bodies hitting the wall. A high pitch screech erupted in the same room.

Anna, Birkin, and Wesker entered the room behind him closing off the door and sealing them all inside.

"He let them out," Birkin said puffing behind Wesker.

"Who let WHO out?" Jake asked even though he already knew the answer. His only course of action now was to get Anja and Sherry out of here.

"The rest of the Nemans." Wesker supplied. Birkin still hadn't turned around he did so now, his eyes resting on Sherry.

"Is this the G-Virus subject?" He barely registered Sherry's gasp of shock, she covered her mouth quickly, Jake stood in front of her.

"Honestly," Jake ranted and jabbed a finger at Wesker. "You think you would have learned your lesson by now. This shit doesn't work. Quit while you're ahead."

"Ah, but it does," Wesker said. "There's always some risk involved in---"

"Save it," Jake snapped. "I'm getting Sherry and Anja away from those things."

"Sherry?" Birkin said turning pale. "My Sherry? My daughter, I thought you said she was dead." Birkin's eyes went wide as he realized who he was staring at. Birkin faced Wesker his hands forming fists.

"She's the G-Virus carrier?" He rounded on Wesker. "How? What happened?" He turned to Jake, his eyes blazed as he took Jake in. "And YOU let him marry my daughter?"

"Let is such a strong word," Jake crossed his arms. He stared daggers at Birkin. "You were dead too."

Sherry was staring at Birkin. "Dad?"

"Sherry?" Birkin couldn't quite get over the fact that this was his daughter. "How many years has it been exactly?" He rounded on Wesker again.

"A few," Wesker admitted. "William we really need to get out of here." Behind them both, Anna stood in shock. She moved next to Wesker and put a hand on his arm. It was an action of such familiarity that Jake's eyes narrowed. This was his mother before everything. She'd trusted Wesker and then something had happened...

Wesker put a hand over hers and then pushed away to deal with Birkin. 

Birkin moved forward with his arms open, Jake was about to move forward when Sherry moved past him but instead of the hug, he thought he was going to get she made a fist and punched him. "Don't you dare." She hissed at him as Anja started crying. "You're the reason I'm in this mess."

"What do you mean?" Birkin said rubbing his jaw, his eyes wide. "Sherry I would never have intentionally hurt you."

"YOU don't even know what you did! Where were you? What 15 years ago? Obsessing over your virus? It got you killed...and now you're going to just do it again?" Sherry stopped suddenly. "I've been chased and kidnapped by these people, because of YOU. You..." She struggled for a moment. "You turned yourself into a monster...and..." The words were painful. Her father had mutated, he was barely human when he'd caught her in Raccoon city, looking for similar DNA. He'd injected the virus into her body with his own tentacles, Sherry shuddered at the memory, wanting to vomit. She'd told Jake the sanitized version. She'd been "exposed." Exposed had been putting it lightly. She'd been impregnated by her mutated father, who had been obsessed with cultivating the virus in real life and in his mutated state obsessed with spreading it. He didn't care that it was his own twelve year old daughter. He'd pushed the tentacles in and implanted the virus inside of her, violating her in the worst imaginable way. "You violated me," Sherry whispered, each word punctuated with venom. Jake had never seen Sherry so angry. She had always been the cheery one, he had no idea she was carrying that inside. 

Jake's arms encircled her pulling her against his chest. . "Sherry, if you want to hit him again, now is not the time. Hell, I'll hit him for you. But we kind of need to get Anja out of here. He's not worth her life."

She stopped and struggled to get her emotions together resting her cheek against his chest, closing her eyes. Birkin turned away his own emotions wavering. He was experiencing his own form of shock. His daughter was old enough to be a mother, and married to Wesker's son? Someone he did not know existed until a few days ago? He did not know what to make of Sherry's accusations. 

"Perhaps if Ms. Bir- Muller needs a moment we can pack a diaper bag." Wesker interrupted in the maddeningly monotone voice he used. Birkin knew Wesker thought they were wasting time. And they were even if it was strolling down memory lane.

"I'll help." Anna came forward. Jake put up a warning hand and shook his head.

"I'll get it," he said coldly eyeing the scientists with disdain. He wanted to go hide in a corner himself. He just needed to keep it together for Sherry's sake at least. They'd both been hit with enough to drive a sane person crazy. He grabbed the gray bag and roughly shoved two handfuls of diapers inside. They hadn't been here very long and it had already gone to hell in a hand basket.

 _Interesting_ , Birkin studied Jake from across the room where he'd retreated. There was no love lost between father and son. Not that his daughter wanted anything to do with him right now. He wasn't sure what had happened, something perhaps that he didn't quite remember. Sherry's description had mortified him, but he couldn't picture actually injecting himself willingly with the G-virus, let alone spreading it to Sherry. What had happened?

"Sherry," Birkin tried again. He stepped forward and Sherry shrank back visibly into Jake. She retreated behind him, keeping Jake between them.

"Don't," she snapped. "You're not him. My father is dead."

Birkin backed away slowly. Wesker eyed him, impassively from behind his dark sunglasses. "If it makes you feel any better. Jake said something similar to me as well."

"What did you do Albert?" Anna asked coming to his side. She had no relationship to either of these people as far as she knew. Jake just couldn't' open his mouth to say anything directly to her. Wesker on the other hand...

"Yeah, because you're both such doting fathers, you'll make wonderful grandparents. Now fuck off," Jake snapped as he strapped Anja to his chest. "All of our lives would be much easier if you had just stayed dead. But you couldn't manage that either."

"Stayed dead?" Anna looked between the two of them. Jake had called her "Mati, mother," earlier in perfectly spoken Edonian. It had surprised her to be addressed as such to say the least from a complete full grown stranger.  She wondered what he'd gone through, perhaps he was suffering ptsd. He kept darting glances, he obviously didn't trust anyone besides his wife.

"I'm sorry," Birkin whispered, paler still. He clutched his stomach and started to dry heave.

Wesker moved to his side. "William what did you do?" His voice was too calm, but more than that, everyone turned to look at Birkin. Something was wrong.  There was an underlying threat under the surface. 

"I used the plaga sample we had." Birkin coughed again. "cultivated it for weeks when I was waiting for the G-virus carrier to get here." He looked at Sherry, "I didn't know it was you."

"And?" Wesker's voice betrayed a little of the impatience the rest of them felt. 

"I took half, and gave the other half to the Neman, after it was sedated."

"Just one?" Wesker was interested. His eyes narrowed as he took in this new possibility. 

"Just the one we had in the lab," Birkin stood, shedding his lab coat as he started to sweat. It never even dawned on him that he might not be able to control the plaga. Everything he'd read on it said it was fully controllable and anything with a subordinate plaga would be under your control..

"So in theory, you can control one?" Wesker said.

"In theory," Birkin said.

"Speak English or something I can get behind," Jake broke into their conversation wearing a baby strapped to his chest and a backpack full of supplies for her on his back. He looked so completely out of place that Sherry almost laughed hysterically.

"I'm sorry," she said to him ignoring the others, "Let's just get out of here."

"We're kind of weaponless at the moment," Jake replied looking over at Wesker, "what have you got here?"

A shrill cry rang out in the hallway behind them suddenly. Wesker flew to the wall next to the door, opened a panel and entered a code. The locks engaged from the inside out. Nothing was getting in.

"Are you kidding me?" Jake said grudgingly. "Trapped?"

Wesker shrugged. "You keep the things you care about the most in the safest place."

"Don't even go there," Jake snapped. "I'll still happily put a bullet through your forehead if given the chance."

Wesker turned to Birkin. "You see? Same problem." Jake clenched his fists, his arm muscles rippling as he turned away so he wouldn't have to respond.

The pounding on the walls that suddenly erupted outside the door closed all of their mouths. The screeching of the nails across metal suddenly sounded deliberate. They were being taunted by the Neman outside. Jake sank to his knees as nausea finally pulled on full force. He knew he needed to get a grip, accept reality but for once in his life, he couldn't shrug this off with a few curse words and go on with his day.  He vomited onto the floor, pitched to the right and everything went black, even as Sherry called his name, she sounded as if she was a hundred miles away.

 

The ground shook as the explosions shook the Arklay Forest. Leon stumbled against the closest tree in front of him. Jill put a steadying hand on him. Claire and Chris were doing the same.

"Some vacation, huh, Chris?" Jill grinned, part of her glad to be back in the game. The other part was itching to get Wesker in her sights. Just this once, she wanted him to go down easy.

Chris only laughed. "Looks like we're heading the right direction at least."

Leon nodded. The forest was burned in patches. Gray dust was stirring up obscuring some of their vision. But they were getting to more places that weren't burned. The fire had only gone so far.

"So the facility is underground?" Claire asked from behind them.

"Probably near the mansion, I understood the one that was located under the city was already destroyed." Chris shuddered. His experiences at the mansion had caused he, his wife, and later his sister to dedicate their lives to combating bio-organic weapons in different ways.  _Were they ever going to win?_

He pushed the thought out of his head and followed Leon, crunching their way through the burned out woods.

Suddenly a growling sound came from behind them. When Chris turned around he caught a glimpse of gray fur, bloodied, pieces of skin falling in tatters. It was an infected wolf. He had run into infected dogs before and hated them. This was straight out of a nightmare.

What had once been a beautiful Arklay Mountain wolf was rapidly losing its fur and becoming a bloodstained toothy monster. Its sunken eyes were gray tinged with red as the blood drained from the eye sockets. The creature was frightening enough but then again another sound turned his blood cold and he turned around again his gun raised.

A high pitched call sounded. Leon heard it and knew it wasn't going to be something cute or fuzzy that would save the day.

"Shit...." Leon started as Claire gasped. Jill only raised her gun in response, her faster than normal reflexes taking over.

In front of them stood a creature that was taller than an Ustanak, but leaner and lither. It appeared to stand at least 10 feet tall. Its dark gray skin stretched over muscles, over which hung the tattered remains of clothes. Clothes that were the only testament to the fact that it used to be a man of sorts. The teeth were needlepoint and set in a jaw that split half of the head opened it opened its mouth and let out another all. The black eyes scanned them and the hands that hung at its sides clenched with a popping sounds as claws popped from the ends of the fingers. It crouched low in front of them for a moment. There was a scraggly mop of gray hair on its head.

They realized at the same time that the wolf and the bizarre creature were sizing each other up.

 _That's sad,_  Leon thought.  _We're not even considered dangerous to them._

He reached out and grabbed Claire's arm and began pulling her back with him. Nudging Chris as he edged by. Chris began to move with him. Jill followed suit, keeping up the rear, gun up. Chris hated to say it, but she was faster than he was, possibly stronger. He didn't argue with her position, even though he wanted to.

"Let's just assume this is like Raccoon City all over again and expect the unexpected," Leon whispered as they hit a tree.

Suddenly Leon's foot trod on something that felt like metal. His boot clanged against it and he glanced down in surprise.  _Lab Emergency Exit_  was etched into the circular cover.

In front of them, the wolf leaped at the creature's torso, with a flash of claws the wolf's sides were shredded. This didn't bother the wolf at all as arms sprouted from its sides immediately. It snarled and decided to go back for round two. The gray monstrosity was unfazed.

"Always go for the head," Leon muttered to himself as he watched them. The creature's face snapped towards him and Leon suddenly wondered if it had understood him. It moved faster than a licker, another creature Leon hated with a passion. 

The black eyes narrowed on the wolf again and this time when the mutated wolf leaped, it brought its claws down on top of the wolf's neck. The head severed and the body immediately dropped. It began to shake and spasm before dissolving completely.

By this time Chris had gotten the panel open and pushed Claire onto the ladder. Jill was underneath her taking the lead to make sure nothing was down at the bottom.

"Go," he said and climbed down after Claire turning to Leon. "Come on!"

Leon never made it to the ladder. The creature was upon him suddenly and hoisted him up against the tree and studied him with those piercing black eyes. "Leon!" Chris yelled, hearing Claire gasp beneath him. 

"Go!" Leon said, "Close the lid and just go!" The creature still had him against the tree. The black eyes were going to give him nightmares, he knew. He was going to pass out any second from the lack of air.

He heard the lid clang shut and hoped there was some way to bolt it closed from the inside because at this rate they wouldn't get very far if this thing decided to pursue them.

Suddenly a shot rang out and echoed in the forest and Leon fell to the ground at the base of the tree and the rather large creature dropped on top of him.

"Shit," he gasped as his vision swam and he pushed at the creature on top of him. It toppled off to his right leaving him covered in blood and gore.

Ada Wong walked into his vision and his first thought was that he was dead. She was wearing pink scrubs of all things. And little white shoes. He had to have died, hit his head, or have been dreaming this whole thing up. Leon was glad he didn't ask this out loud because the sudden pain of being slammed against the tree made itself known and he groaned out her name. "Ada?"

He was deliriously happy to see her but it probably had more to do with the fact that he'd been knocked out once and slammed against a tree by something that crawled out Neo-Umbrella's labs. Or maybe it was the sheer joy of still being alive after looking the ugliest grim reaper he'd ever come across in the face and living to tell the tale.

"Hello handsome," She said getting closer, a sniper rifle held in her hands at the ready. Leon struggled and made it to a standing position, his head swimming as he struggled to breathe.

Naturally, Leon did the best thing he could at the moment to let her know how glad he was to see her. He pitched forward and vomited at her feet. He heard her swear and jump back as he passed out. 


	23. Chapter 23

The ash tickled his nostrils as he inhaled in and out through his nose. Leon sneezed kicking up more dust and started coughing. His head at least didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it had earlier, but his back was killing him.

“Man, I’m getting old.” He muttered as he brought himself up to his knees, running a hand through his hair. He felt grimy, he winced as he sat back on his bottom.

“Hello handsome.” Ada sat about five feet away, clutching what appeared to him to be sniper rifle. He tried to focus on it, but his vision blurred after a moment. He gave up and closed his eyes. He wanted to drag himself through the dirt and strangle her, but he didn’t have the energy to do it at the moment. And at some point, she had just saved his life. Again.

“Why did you do it?” He took a second glance at her, finally seeing that something was off. Ada had always been stylish. Hell, he’d seen her fight in a dress before, the slit in the side up so he, he could almost see… He pushed that memory away. Right now, she was wearing scrubs, pink… with a sniper rifle clutched protectively across her chest. She stared at him, neither flinching, nor backing down. She looked tired for once. Gone was the cocky “I know something you don’t know” attitude. If he was a betting man, he thought she actually looked scared, for once in her life.

“Why did I do, what?” His mouth dropped open.

“You helped Wesker get Sherry.” Ada didn’t reply, although she did clutch the gun a little more protectively to her chest. She made no reply, only looked toward the east where the sun was started to make its descent.

“We need to get moving.”

“Answer the question.” Leon stared at her. It was unnerving to see her this disconcerted. The sniper rifle looked like it was her lifeline.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Damn it, Ada.” Leon suddenly lashed out at her, she brought up the gun in between them, he knocked it away to the side and pinned her to the ground, with both hands over her head. Both of them were breathing hard.

“Probably isn’t a good time for this, Leon.” She whispered huskily. Leon groaned and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Just answer the question, Ada, and for once in your life be straight with me.” She didn’t say a word but simply stared back up at him, amusement across her features. No trace of fear, even with him holding her down. “Why did you help Wesker take Sherry.”

“I didn’t.” Leon lowered his face to hers.

“I saw you. I was there. You were there.” He still badly wanted to kiss her. This wasn’t exactly the way this interrogation was supposed to go.

“And you have all these clones of Wesker floating around…you didn’t stop to think for just one moment, especially after last year, there’s one of me running around.”

“The last one is dead. Chris shot her.”

“There is another, there has to be.”

“Why?” Leon shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve worked with Wesker before…”

“So, what.” Ada shifted under him and hooked a leg around his waist, stretching as she did so. Leon’s eyes flicked down her torso and she yanked her arms out of his grasp to grab him around the neck. Even in nurse’s scrubs, she looked hot to Leon. She twisted to the side, and Leon lost his balance as she pushed him over. If he had been in top shape, he might have kept her pinned but as it was his head was still half groggy, his back hurt, and he probably had pulled a muscle in his right leg. They rolled over and she was now on top.

“Up until earlier today, I was locked in a cell.” She informed him placing a hand on either side of his face. “I haven’t been out anywhere, or done anything for a few days.”

“So, you weren’t hired to get at Sherry.” Leon had both hands around her waist this time, determined to not let her get the better of him.

“No, I was hired, I just hadn’t finished the job to Wesker’s liking. He’s back.”

“I know. We met.” Leon shuddered, but he wasn’t sure if it was because Ada was sitting on him, or the encounter with Wesker. He needed to find Chris, Claire, and Jill but the odds stacked against him at the moment. Or rather on top of him. His brain struggled with what was going on, he’d taken one too many knocks to the head today. “So, what are you doing here, now?” Leon couldn’t get past the outfit, it was so unlike her. Actually, this whole encounter was unlike her. If there was another clone of Ada Wong out there again, was this it?

Ada lowered her face to his. “What does it look like? I’m escaping.” She crushed her lips against his and Leon pulled her against him. Hell, did it matter now? He felt her fingers curl into his hair. He would have been lying if he hadn’t thought about what this would be like again. It did nothing to unravel the mystery of who she was. If she was real or not… But he wasn’t thinking about any of that right now. He groaned against her lips as he pulled her down underneath him. Something must be seriously wrong. Ada had always flirted with him, but this? He looked down at her looking for some sign that would indicate she was who she said she was…

Damn it, as much as he would love to…

“There could be more of those things...” He pulled away, inwardly he was cursing himself out.

“What are they?” She asked without missing a beat, referring the creature she’d just shot. As if she hadn’t just kissed him. He stared at her, wanting to feel that kiss again.

“How did you get here Ada? If that’s who you are…” He kept her pinned more firmly this time.

“I told you, I was in a cell. I woke up dressed like this and have been trying to figure out where I am…”

“And the gun?”

I took it off a dead guard after that thing attacked him…”

He stared at her, warring with what his body wanted to do, and what he really needed to be doing. Finding his partner, his friends and getting the hell out of here.

He pulled himself up. She had saved his life, just like Ada in the past. Although, she’d never come on so strong before. Gone was her confidence. He couldn’t imagine anything shaking Ada badly enough although that last creature was a nightmare come to life.

“What was the price, Ada?” He looked her right in the eyes as he pulled her up after him.

She stilled and looked him in the eye. “It was too high.”

 _Too high?_ That didn’t tell him much except that even Ada had her limits. She moved away from him then and held the gun close, listening to the sounds around them.

“Where are we?”

“Near Raccoon City.” Ada froze again, this was where they’d first met. Where she had first fooled him, he thought she’d died. Things were coming full circle. For all of them.

“This is some reunion,” She whispered.


	24. Chapter 24

Jake wasn’t sure if the pounding on the door was coming from his head or the door. The Neman, as Jake had decided he would call them, screw everyone else, still pounded on the door, stopping and starting sporadically. He opened his eyes to find both Sherry and Anna looking down at him. “Gah!” He pushed away from Anna straight into Sherry, almost bowling her over.

“Are you ok?” Anna started to put a hand forward, Jake shrank away from her. He glanced down at the floor, her white lab coat had been rolled into a ball and placed under his head.

Wesker and Birkin were in a heated argument near the door.

“Don’t touch me.” Jake whispered hoarsely turning away from her.

“I make you uncomfortable.” Anna said lightly drawing her hand back. Sherry put a comforting hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Why?”

“Oh, come on.” Jake turned to her, he put a finger right into her face. “You think that Wesker brought you back and you have nothing to do with any of this?”

Anna paled. “Brought me back…” She looked so uncertain. It was killing him. The happier times before his mother became sick. Her refusal to move to another area for treatment. Her letter… This was what she had been before all of that. Before he was part of the picture, a scientist. She’d even helped Wesker. Was there anything he had that wasn’t connected to that bastard?

“Just stay away from me.”

“What do you mean brought me back?” Anna moved closer, the argument by the door had ceased.

Wesker crossed the floor and put a hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Jake, now isn’t the time for this.”

“The hell it isn’t,” Jake stood and glowered at Wesker and pushed Sherry away. He glanced down at Anna as she slowly rose to her feet.

“Tell her, Wesker,” His Edonian accent began to show as his anger rose. “Tell dear Mati here, why she’s here. Tell her who I am. Tell me, why you brought her back.”

Anna turned to Wesker, her eyes were shining. “Oh my god, Albert, the overlays actually worked?”

Jake was confused for a moment at the reaction, even Wesker’s eyes widened a fraction before he cooled back into his normal monotone state. He nodded, “They did. You are a genius, my dear.”

“You brought me back.” She crossed her arms, looking up at him. There was no surprise like Birkin, unlike Birkin she had a memory overlay that didn’t include her son, or ever being pregnant.

“I did, I…” Wesker hesitated and rubbed his temples. It seemed like Birkin, Anna hadn’t realized she’d been dead. But unlike Birkin, the news wasn’t as traumatic.

 _Holy shit_ , Jake thought. _He actually cares about her._

And she cared about him, although she didn’t reach out and touch him, she wanted to. Jake could see it. It made him physically ill. What had made his mother go from this to fleeing from him?

“So…Jake.” Anna turned to him. “Who am I to you?” Behind her, Wesker shot him a warning glance. “You called me Mati, you are obviously from Edonia, like me…” Her voice trailed off.

“Anna…” Wesker started.

“Don’t bother,” Jake snapped. He stood up towering over her, all 6’3” of him to look Wesker eye to eye. “If she can’t see the resemblance for herself, it really doesn’t matter. Does it?” Anna looked between them and gasped. Same eyes, same chin, same nose, but Jake had his mother’s reddish hair and ruddy features overlaying Weskers.  His blue eyes were even a closer match to Anna’s than Wesker. 

“When?” Anna crossed over to him and reached up. “I had a child, how long…” She turned back to Albert. “What happened to me?”

“Now’s not really the time,” Wesker turned back to Birkin. “William, do you really think the plaga sample will work on that creature outside of the door. He moved away from her and began questioning Birkin.

Anna stood alone stunned, Sherry held back, picking up Anja who was stirring. There was pity there, but she knew if she moved in to comfort Anna, Jake might come unglued. Jake had moved to the other corner of the room for a moment. Sherry knew he was trying to get a handle on everything he’d learned today. Nothing had prepared him for this.

“You invented the memory overlays?” She said finally to Anna.

“I? Yes, I did…” Anna shook her head and looked at Sherry. “I worked with storing and saving the memories of people, it’s a very difficult procedure, it took us years, but the idea was to save those who had died…” She stopped. “I can see it worked. But I don’t know…how many years it’s been…” She looked at Jake again.

Sherry turned away, Jake had retreated to the corner and was rubbing his face. Wesker and Birkin were discussing the creature outside the door, leaving Anna and Sherry in the middle of the room.

“Is that…” Anna ventured, staring at Anja.

“Her name is Anja,” Sherry replied giving the Edonian pronounciation that Jake always used, lengthening the initial A, when he said his daughter’s name. “She was named for his mother.”

Anna turned red. “Anjatte Mueller, Anja for her friends. Anna here in the states.” She sighed and tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear.  “I have never even thought I was going to have a child. I never thought Albert would—” She looked embarrassed. “I don’t know what happened.”

Sherry turned to Jake and winced as the pounding commenced once again.

“William try stopping the creature.” Wesker’s voice full of impatience, floated over to them. It was the wrong time to be friends with this woman.  But she’d helped her with Jake.

“He doesn’t know either.” Sherry whispered. “Here hold her.” She passed Anja over to Anna before Anna could say no. Then she stood and walked to the other corner of the room to Jake.

“Jake,” She whispered, “Are you ok?” She put a hand on his shoulder, he flinched but he didn’t move away.

“Everything I am, everything I have, is it all going to be tainted by my father?” He whispered.  He turned and looked at her and then over at Anna holding Anja, his eyes narrowed. “She loved him. I mean, really loved him.”

“You don’t know what happened. She also left him.” Sherry whispered. Jake sighed and turned and folded Sherry into his arms.

“My whole existence is based off of that asshole. Everything I have.” Sherry stiffened in his arms and he tightened his grip on her. “Except you.” He put his face down on her suddenly, desperately and Sherry leaned into him.

“We’ll get out of this.” She whispered. He only nodded and took another glance over at the clone of his mother holding his daughter.

“She looked like that once, you know. My mother, when she got sick she went downhill pretty quickly…she could have gotten help but she didn’t want to be found.”

Sherry chanced a glance over at Birkin and Wesker, they were staring at them.

“When you are ready,” Wesker said.

“I was born ready,” Jake said with more confidence than he felt. He moved towards the two men by the door. The Ustanak shifted, Jake had managed to forget the large B.O.W. was in the room. He gave it a wave. God, he couldn’t wait to take this one out for good. He shoved the memories of his mother out of his mind _. My mother died, because of some asshole. These two people are just copies, not the real thing. She didn’t live the life my mother did. She didn’t sacrifice the things my mother did for me._   He kept those thoughts to himself. But it was still a bittersweet reminder of what his mother used to be. Even if she had fallen for that bastard.

“We’re all going to escape here, there’s a weapons cache, one floor down. It’s not too far, we’ll need it.”

“A weapons cache?” Jake eyed Wesker’s side arm. Unlike the rest, Wesker was the only one packing.

Anja had started to whimper in Anna’s arms and Sherry took her back and started to unbutton her shirt to feed her.

“New plan,” Jake said. “You, me, big ugly there,” He pointed at the Ustanak, go and get the weapons and bring them here and clean house along the way.

Wesker hesitated.

“Look, Anja’s a liability right now. She cries and attracts, whatever the hell you’ve got down here…we’re dead. Hell, the docs are a liability as far as I’m concerned.”

 

 

Chris hit the floor after Jill and Claire. He paused for a moment, the grief flowing through him at the certainty that Leon was dead. He punched the wall, the sound echoing down the hall before he could get a hold of himself. Jill was suddenly in his face. She had a firm grip on his forearm. “Chris get a grip, we came here to do a mission. You don’t know what’s down here, and you just may have attracted it.”

They stood listening for a moment, hearing the sounds of water dripping

“And something was here,” She whispered pointing to the wall. Claire let out a small gasp, and Chris took a small step backwards. The lights were still flickering but there was a huge blood stain on the wall with bits of other parts stuck inside. Chris took a deep breath. Something had been thrown bodily against the wall and then something else had drug it’s claws through the ichor on the wall if the lines that ran through the center of the stain were any indication.

Jill put a finger to her lips and listened. She could hear ten times better than Chris. Not that she’d ever fully explained the extent of her abilities. Sitting in a BSAA lab had been the dullest moment of her life. She couldn’t wait to get out into the field. It was ironic that her first time out was here with Chris somewhere under Raccoon City. The Arklay mountains lay to the east. It was the weirdest homecoming ever.

“I don’t hear anything,” she whispered finally. Chris nodded, and they moved forward. Claire had tears streaming down her face and she held back a sob. No one mentioned Leon’s name.

 

 

"Jake, no…" Sherry said moving forward.

"That's a good idea," Birkin said at the same time. His respect for the young man was starting to grow, even if he didn’t like him.

Also the idea that those two wouldn't make it back appealed to him very much. He could tell that Sherry loved him but she was young and would get over his death. At least that was how Birkin attempted to justify the idea in his own mind.

Wesker looked between Birkin and Jake. Sherry's were the only motivations he did not find suspicious, Jake he knew would act to protect his family. Birkin was possibly after revenge, especially after he’d discovered Sherry.

Anna, he wasn’t sure about. She’d been shocked to discover she’d carried a child, or rather the original Anjette Mueller had carried one. She kept giving him glances, frowning, trying to figure things out. Wesker could have told her how that had gone down, but it was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.

"If Birkin can control that creature, he can station it outside the door," He said finally. "We can get into the armory probably better than anyone else here. The baby is just a distraction."

"Spoken like a loving grandfather." Jake snapped moving towards the open door. He felt a hand on his arm.

"Jake don't do this to me." A tear slid down Sherry's cheek and she trembled visibly. .

He turned to face her and grabbed her shoulders in his hands and pulled her to him kissing her and ignoring the other people in the room. He pulled away. "Sherry, you survive no matter what, do you hear me?"

She only nodded too choked up and not trusting herself to speak. Jake moved over to Anja and glanced down at her. He bent down and planted a kiss on her forehead being careful not to wake her.

Wesker only sighed impatiently and Birkin glanced elsewhere.

Jake turned to Birkin, "don't let anything through that door."

"Of course not." He said feeling pale still. He hoped the plaga that he had taken wouldn't impair him to the point where he wouldn't be able to control the creature outside. It had been a last ditch effort at revenge. It seemed to be their only defense against the other Nemans.

"Let's go then." He glanced at Wesker and strode out the door armed only with his fists. Wesker nodded to Birkin and moved outside closing the door from the outside and keying in the codes to make sure it stayed locked.

The nightmarish creation of Birkin's stood feet away not moving. Jake shuddered visibly remembering the first time he'd been chased by something Neo-Umbrella had dragged out of the pits of hell. The first time he'd caught sight of an Ustanak he wasn't sure what to make of it, but having been battling bio-organic weapons for the past year already he didn't panic. Now an Ustanak was shadowing him out the door, currently on his side. However long that lasted.

Jake noticed the big creature seemed just as afraid of the Neman as he was. Jake didn't like his odds against one of those creatures one on one, let alone a whole horde of them. The fact that they had at one time been biologically his half siblings…

And with the luck they'd been having here in the first place, they would probably run into the rest of the Nemans at some point.

"Which way." He stared hard at Wesker who was still studying the Neman.

"That way," he pointed off towards the right. Jake sighed when he didn't move. Dear old Dad, he thought taking the lead.

The hallway was gray and the floor sounded metallic as his boots moved over it. He slowed and took his steps more carefully. He was unarmed here against creatures that could tear him apart without blinking an eye. While Wesker and an Ustanak followed behind. He laughed, the irony was too much. Wasn’t Wesker the doting father he’d always been looking for?

"What's funny." Wesker asked from behind him.

"Nothing at all." Jake responded. Not bothering to turn around. He heard the click of the gun behind him.

"I meant what I said earlier Jake," Wesker was following, making at attempt at walking in silence. Even the Ustanak moved quietly for something his size. "You really are the most dangerous B.O.W. here."

"Sure whatever," Jake didn't care. He had just left his wife and child in a safe room with the clone of her biological father. Nothing was going to surprise him at this point.

They neared the end of the hallway, even the Ustanak was silent. The hallway ran into another corridor which ran perpendicular the one they were standing in.

Something skittered in the distance and Jake tensed but remained silent.

"The right." Wesker said behind him.

Jake glancing quickly to the left moved into the right corridor and followed it down. Here if anything showed up they would be sitting ducks. Their best hope was not to attract ANYTHING. He was starting to feel better about leaving Sherry and Anja in the safe room.

The hall started to curve around. The lights also started flickering. "Great, like we didn't have enough problems," he muttered.

The silence was more unnerving than running into a B.O.W. The worst part of a battle was always waiting for it to start. He both hated and loved that part of being a mercenary. Jake hesitated before continuing down the hallway. Wesker and the Ustanak were behind him. A myriad of uncertainty lay before him.

He realized he was going to have to turn off his feelings for Sherry and Anja before he moved. They were safe for the moment. Worrying about them right now was going to get them all killed. He needed to be just as ruthless as he was when he and Sherry had first met in Edonia. Back when getting them both out wasn't his first priority.

He took a deep breath closed his eyes and opened them again.

"Something wrong, Jake?" Wesker's voice prodded him from behind. Jake really hated this guy. He turned that off too. All Wesker was right now was a means to an end.  
"No." Jake responded and moved forward into the flickering lights. He refused to think of this man behind him as his father, cloned or otherwise. He was just the jack ass with the gun.

Everything else faded away as he listened for whatever was in front of him. He knew there was something there. He'd caught a glimpse of something running on all fours. He hoped it was a guard dog. But the odds were against it being uninfected. The flickering lights weren’t helping. What had happened in the time they’d made it to the safe room? Where were the rest of the people in this facility?

He longed for the familiar feel of a glock in his hand, or at least something to do battle with. He scanned the floor for any kind of weapon as he moved forward.  
He spotted a wooden table in front of him. Well that's helpful, he thought. He picked it up and slammed it against the wall. The table shattered leaving him a sharp wooden stick in hand _. Better than nothing,_ he moved forward again. The worst part was knowing he was immune to the C-Virus but not knowing if he was immune to the virus Birkin had unleashed. He doubted that part, given that all his other "siblings" that Wesker had created had turned into Nemans, and were running loose all over the place. He wasn’t sure if it had been part of the plan or not, but watching and listening to the two men arguing earlier, he didn’t believe Wesker had wanted the Nemans. Birkin had done something else, added something…

He moved forward keeping his pointed stick out in front of him, against a Neman he doubted it would do much damage but he'd fought against other creatures with less and won. He just had to avoid being scratched. He wasn’t even sure if that’s what it would take to transform him.

The scratching sounded again and Jake caught a glimpse of the creature in front of him. It was an infected doberman. Its skin torn in places as blood and other biological fluids dripped onto the floor. Wesker and the Ustanak moved behind him.

Jake couldn't believe he was taking point with a stick.

The dog leapt at him, startling Jake and he simply reacted by bringing the point up. It hit the doberman square in the chest. It let out a shriek and was still. The impact knocked Jake back and dragged the stick out of his hand. Jake reached down and picked it up and brought his boot down hard on the dog's head with a satisfying crunch.

"If only that was the worst thing down here." He muttered.

"If only," Wesker agreed. The Ustanak said nothing.

"Where would the Nemans have gone?" Jake asked without turning around.

"Probably up and out," Wesker responded. "Think about it, they are reasonably intelligent. Escape is probably their first priority."

"Do they remember what they were?" Jake said staring straight ahead _. Leon, where are you?_

Wesker didn't respond for a moment. "I don't know," he admitted. "A pity if they did." Jake turned around to look at Wesker again. Someday soon he was going to have it out with dear old Dad. He still couldn't believe this man had fathered him at some point. At least the original had…and he had to been some sort of insane genius to come up with a back-up plan of this magnitude.  
They stepped around the dead dog and moved forward, the lights continued to flicker, Jake prayed that they wouldn't go out entirely.  
"So," He said quietly as he continued forward. "You going to tell me what else is down here now?"  
"And ruin the surprise?" Wesker's voice was almost condescending.  
"Ah, fuck," Jake snapped. "I hate you."  
"Always cursing, you'll never get far like that."  
The Ustanak grunted behind Jake and Jake took it as a sign that at least the creature was in agreement with him.  
He kept walking forward with his wooden table leg in hand. It wasn't going to help much against the Nemans but it was better than nothing. At least he could take out a few infected dogs and who knew what else was down here. Rats of epic proportions?  
The lights flickered suddenly and above their heads a hatch suddenly popped open. Jake reacted instinctively jumping backwards into Wesker who pulled the gun on him. Jake didn't even give him a second look only staring at the face of Chris Redfield as his face peeked through the opening.  
"Chris?"  
Chris's own surprise took a second longer to register. "Jake! Are you ok? Where's Sherry?" He bombarded Jake with questions as he dropped down.  
And then he took stock and noticed Wesker behind Jake with the Ustanak. No one moved for a moment.  
"Where's Sherry?" Claire's quiet voice came from the hole. Jake glanced up at her.  
"I left her in the safe room with Birkin."

Claire dropped down, no longer surprised at anything. Wesker was here again back from the dead. Why not Birkin too? They had been friends long ago, if Wesker could have been said to have any friends. What did surprise her was seeing Jake moving down a tunnel with Wesker and a creature that Sherry had described to her as the Ustanak. Oddly enough it made no move to attack any of them.  
"Birkin?" Chris on the other hand was quite surprised. "Anyone else you brought back that I should know about."  
Wesker shrugged, but Jake’s face went through a convoluted set of emotions before going stone cold.  Jill dropped down behind Chris.  
"Guys there is a weapons cache we're trying to get to here." Jake said before anyone else could come to the wrong conclusion. "I've got a stick."  
Chris swung his glance back at Wesker holding the only hand gun. "You're in front?"  
Jake shrugged. "There's all kinds of creatures here…I've killed a dog but who knows what else is down here."  
"Besides that you mean?" Claire nodded to the Ustanak, who only shrugged.  
Jake nodded. "Look guys, Sherry is alone with a clone of her Dad, I kind of want to get back to her as soon as possible."

"Let's ditch this guy," Chris pointed his own gun at Wesker, his skin crawling to see him up and moving again after watching the original die in a volcano.

This time it was Jake who pulled Chris's gun down. "He knows where the weapons cache is, and I think we are going to have to do a whole lot of fighting to get out of here." Jake glanced around suddenly. "Hell, you guys didn't think to bring Leon with you?"

Both Chris and Claire suddenly looked down. Jill looked away. Jake caught their meaning. "No…"

"We didn't see him die," Chris said putting a hand on Jake's shoulder watching as Jake's fists balled up.  
"It was a huge creature, black eyes, dark skin…it moved so fast." Chris remembered Leon standing between them telling them to run. He shuddered visibly.

“Why Jill, it’s good to see you again.” Wesker’s voice cut through. “I admit I wasn’t expecting to see you outside of a BSAA lab anytime soon. Can we pick up where we left off?”

Jill lifted her gun. “Anytime.”

Wesker only lifted an eyebrow. “That’s not what I meant Jill, you know that.”

Chris frowned but moved in between them. “That’s enough.”

Jill gritted her teeth, lifting her rifle again, her body was shaking. Chris turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “The mission Jill. You got this? I know he’ll say anything.” She only nodded. Chris squeezed her shoulder wishing they were alone, but this confrontation was going to happen at some point. It needed to happen.

"Well this is all touching but the Nemans aren't the only dangerous creatures down here." Wesker's irritating voice cut in. Jake's fists got even tighter, both Chris and Claire visibly tensed. "Besides I'm sure the Redfields will be of some use, they are always finding ways to ruin a cog or two in my plans."

Chris pulled out a glock and handed it to Jake. "Here...don't waste the ammo. Keep the stick too."

Jake nodded. He still couldn't believe Leon was dead. The man had more lives than a cat. He wasn't going to believe it until he saw a body. Telling Sherry would crush her. Leon had been more of a father figure to her than Birkin, or her guardian Simmons.

"Hey asshole, which way?" He said without looking at Wesker. He was afraid if he did look at him just seeing his smug expression would cause him to lose it. And he knew he was barely holding on to any form of sanity right now.

"Straight forward," Wesker stayed in the back.

"So what's down here?" Chris said moving forward.

"I'm not sure yet," Jake said. "That asshole behind me, won't say."

Chris sighed. He wasn't even going to bother asking. Wesker had a gun oddly enough aimed at Jake the whole time. He joined Jake up front, Jill stayed to his left between them.

Jake glanced at him. “You know, I won’t believe Leon’s dead till I see a body. That man has more escapes than there are stars in the sky.”

Chris looked at him, his expression pained. “Not this time, Jake.”


	25. Chapter 25

Leon who was in fact not dead stood next to Ada staring at the creature. Even in death, it was still menacing. The side of its head was blown wide, coagulated blood clinging to its chin, the lips were pulled back showing off teeth, the eyes were pitch black and permanently open. He shuddered. It still looked very much alive, despite the hole in the side of its head.

"What is that thing?" His voice trembled in spite of himself. After being picked up by the creature he was sure he was going to die this time. It wasn't the first time he'd been picked up by a b.o.w. but in that moment he was sure it was going to be his last. His shoulder still ached where the claws had gripped him.

"Not sure," Ada was leaning down for a closer examination. She plucked a long white hair off of its head placed it in her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Leon moved closer. He would never trust her completely. Now even less so. Ada told herself it was better this way. 

"Can't find out what this is without a sample. Probably started out as a human." 

Leon nodded. "Knowing Wesker. Yeah." He groaned as a headache started to come on. Being picked up by a creature that was ten times stronger than you was all in a days work. But that didn't mean that you didn't get hit with a painful headache every now again. Or an aching back.

He glanced over at the hole that Chris and Claire had dropped into earlier. He couldn't blame them for leaving him. He'd told them to go. There was just no way they were going to beat this creature in the open. "You got what you need?" He asked not looking at her.

Ada stood up. "Yes."

Leon headed toward the opening. It was as far as he knew the only way in. At least he might catch up with the others, he couldn't wait to see the expression on Claire's face. That stopped him for a moment. Claire had to have been horrified, she'd been in these situations before, true, but it wasn't her job to hunt down b.o.w. activity. She'd chosen another route to stop this kind of madness. But that was the point, wasn't it? He sighed, the technology was here, and that's what it was. They could ban it, or try to, but because they were capable of it, it wasn't going away.

He pried the lid open and looked down into the darkness. Somewhere down there, several people, he considered family were climbing around trying to stop this if they weren't dead already. His head hurt, his back hurt. He flexed and turned his neck, his spine cracking as he worked up the nerve to climb down.  The fear only made him more determined to go. 

"They worth this?" Ada asked from behind him. This time he did look back at her, carrying her sniper rifle. He was used to her being much more in control and more mysterious. Today she looked tired. He wondered if she was feeling as old as he was. 

"I've done more for people worth less to me." He didn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice. She winced but said nothing. She was still incredible to him, still saving his life when he thought it was the end, but he couldn't keep the nagging suspicion that something was wrong here. Something was more wrong than the usual. 

She nodded and moved to join him. He took one more glance at the dead creature and started his descent down the ladder into darkness.

______________________________________________________________________

Sherry stared across the room at the clone of her father. They had closed and locked the door of the saferoom. The Neman Birkin controlled remained stationed outside the door. Anna stayed next to her, but she looked just as lost as Sherry felt. Having her father back wasn't anything Sherry had ever dreamed of. If anything, it was the worst thing to happen. 

Birkin, on the other hand, looked sick. Pale and sweating, he coughed frequently, shivered and glanced nervously at his watch. 

"What exactly did you do?" Sherry whispered from across the room. She refused to be any closer to him than necessary. She knew he remembered her as a little girl, but to Sherry, he looked exactly as her father had appeared before mutating into the monster he'd eventually become. The one that had forced a tentacle inside of her, giving her the virus that had made her life hell. She didn't look at him and see her father but rather the monster. She shuddered and looked away from him again, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt like the small child she was that day.

Birkin glanced over at her and shrugged. "I made a decision to take revenge for my family." Anna looked up at him. She had been holding Anja, now that Jake wasn't here Sherry felt able to relax a little more around Anna. 

"Your family?" Sherry's face turned red. "You murdered your wife and if it hadn't been for Leon and Claire, I'd be dead too…or worse. Just like you." Birkin only stared at her, his jaw clenched as he struggled to find words.   

"I thought you were dead." Birkin put his back to the wall and slid down facing Sherry from across the room, sweat stains were starting to form on his shirt.

"You are supposed to be dead." Sherry snapped. Birkin frowned, he still wasn't sure whether to believe it when Anna spoke up.

"We worked so much on that, the memory overlays, with Albert dropping in and out. He was so interested, we talked about it over dinner often. I had no idea it would work...but..." Her voice trailed off. She glanced at Sherry. "Why does Jake hate me?"

Sherry looked between them. Both sets of parents staring at her. She found Anna easier to talk to than Birkin. "He doesn't hate you...his mother died... I don't know all the exact details. She left him a letter saying his father loved him and would find him one day. He's been a mercenary since he was 14." Anna's eyes went wide and she juggled Jake's daughter on his lap. "And you look just like her before she was sick." Sherry's voice dropped to a whisper. "They were close."

Anna looked at Sherry. "I never, I mean, I never thought Albert and I would get together...I wanted to...but..." 

"Jake hates him." She was blunt. She didn't want Anna to get the wrong idea, whatever the idea was, she was clearly in love with Wesker. A fact that Sherry could barely stomach and Jake absolutely abhorred. The idea that Wesker had left him wasn't as bad as seeing her look at him like a lovesick puppy knowing what had happened.  

"Jake's mother left Wesker and went into hiding in a third world country." Sherry reached for Anja and Anna reluctantly handed the infant over. Anja had begun to squirm, Sherry knew she was hungry. The waiting was killing her. Waiting for Jake to return, waiting for someone to tell them they could leave. Just having to wait when she'd always been to help.  _Sherry do this for me, please._ Jake had asked. She clutched Anja to her breast and nursed her. She would survive this for him, but he damned well better make sure he'd come back to her.

"Why did she do it?" Anna's voice was barely above a whisper.

Sherry eyed her as Anja started to drift to sleep. "We don't know," She whispered back.

"What about with me?" Birkin's voice interrupted their moment. Both turned to stare at Birkin, pale and flushed. "How did I die?"

"You died in Raccoon City. There were quite a few factors that led up to your death."  Sherry stared at him for a moment and then continued. "Your work was taken, probably in the same way YOU TOOK it."

Birkin winced. He and Wesker had stolen the original work from their colleague Marcus. He wasn't suprised that Sherry knew about it.

"But you mutated into this monster, you weren't even recognizable as a human." She shuddered visibly and looked away for a moment. Anja was still sleeping peacefully against her chest.

"And you killed Mom when she tried to stop you. You took me and... and...  ...injected me with the virus." Her voice was barely audible and her eyes went glassy as she remembered the ordeal. Her body started to tremble.

Birkin was silent. "The virus didn't mutate you?"

"I received the vaccine in time."

"But you have abilities now."

"Healing," Sherry's voice was flat. She didn't realize she could hate someone this much. "It hasn't exactly let me live a normal life. I've been a ward of the government, and now I'm their operative. They aren't exactly going to let me go and disappear."

"No," said Birkin sadly. "I'm sorry Sherry. I didn't know…"

"Stop," Sherry held up her hand. "You are not my father. You may share his DNA, but that's it. My father is dead. Jake's right, when people die they need to stay dead."

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Jake stared into the flickering darkness in front of Chris. They'd all frozen at the sound of nails on the concrete walls. A scraping had come from up ahead. The hallway curved from here. Jake reminded himself to kick someone's ass for that. Just who set this place up for failure anyway?

Jake moved up next to Chris pulling the Glock out and stilling his breathing. He could hear better than any of them, with the exception of Wesker and possibly the Ustanak. His ears had picked up the sounds of breathing that were almost too quiet for him to pick up. He put a restraining hand on Chris's arm when the other man started forward. Whatever was over there was waiting for them to come around the curve. 

He put up one finger in his left hand Chris nodded. Jake couldn't make out any more details, other than it was big. 

Jake started forward but Chris laid a restraining hand on him this time. Jake lifted an eyebrow at Chris reached over and pulled the knife out of his vest. He flipped it in his hand and jabbed it into the top of hand and held his hand up in front of Chris. 

Chris's eyes widened at the sight of Jake's hand healing instantly, he gave Jake a look that suggested they were going to have to have a conversation later. Jake gritted his teeth, as always the healing hurt. Chris backed up, shrugged and allowed Jake to take the lead this time. Jake moved forward again. When he tried to hand the knife back Chris gestured for him to keep it. There was a bloodstain on his arm.

Claire followed behind them casting glances back at Wesker and the Ustanak. This was the 2nd of the creatures they'd encountered. But it was not attacking them for the moment. Claire kept her handgun out in front of her not sure if she should be pointing it behind her or in front.

Jill for her part maintained a calm steady demeanor, although inside she was roiling. Having to turn her back on Wesker was the hardest part of being down here. Not to mention Wesker kept giving her glances and smiling. She hated the way he looked at her, the knowing look of something they'd shared, even though she'd not been a willing participant. Her fingers tightened on the gun and she focused on moving forward. She knew by the tightness of Jake's own face that he was having a similar problem to her own and if it came down to it, he'd definitely be the first to back her up.  Mostly she wanted to beat the same placid look off of his face that he'd worn when he'd opened her up out of cryo those years ago. He followed with his pet Ustanak in the rear. He moved quietly but he appeared to be what he was. A scientist observing the results of his tests.

Jake made the decision to just move forward and get it over with. No use in waiting, he thought. He put one foot in front of the other slowly moving forward. The anticipation was killing him. Not that he wanted to know what was in front of him, but that it was a complete unknown. They could all be dead in the next ten minutes or less.

 _You are the most dangerous B.O.W. here_. Wesker's voice floated into his mind. For once he hoped Wesker was right. He desperately wanted to get out of this alive. 

"Fuck it." Jake moved forward again. He was aware of Wesker behind him. He didn't even want to bother with silence. He needed to be the target. If he was hit there was a better chance he was coming back than the rest of them. Except for Jill, he wasn't sure what her abilities were.

And Wesker? The guy was always calm. Almost as if he was observing a science experiment from afar and there was no way he was going to get hurt. Jake paused, his shoulders stiffened at the thought.  _Seriously?_

Was it possible that Wesker had this whole scenario planned out? It did not seem likely. He had the healing ability now, just as Jake and Sherry did... who else?

Birkin had betrayed him. The facility was under siege from the creatures that Birkin had unwittingly created against Wesker's will.

Birkin was in control of one of them.

_…and yet._

There was no panic. It was as if the man wasn't even human. He remained in control at the same time as it seemed he was not in control of anything. What happened to the boy they found?

The adult clone that had just died?

He had just left Sherry alone with her father, who in theory was the enemy of Wesker. The enemy of my enemy supposedly is my friend.

Chris, Jill, and Claire showing up.

Leon was dead. Maybe….Jake still couldn't believe it. That last one stung the most. Leon was his mentor and he knew Leon wanted him to eventually take over. Jake wasn't ready for him to just be out of the picture. Not yet.

Was this really an experiment after all?

 _Was Sherry involved?_  He dismissed the last thought immediately. No matter what had happened Sherry was just as much of a victim of their parents as he was. They had played with her genes just as much as they had played with his. The fact that they had had a child together was a bonus. The only unexpected thing they had done so far was to find each other.

Jake slowly rounded the corner edging forward wondering how long the creature here was going to take to show itself. He heard nothing and realized, like him, it was probably holding its breath. 

He felt a searing pain in his gut before he saw the cause. The Neman jabbed him through with a broken chair leg. Ironic as he was also carrying one.  _Well, that proves we're fucking related_ , he thought sarcastically as he stared down at his gut.

A gurgling sound came out of him. He felt his feet leave the floor as the creature in front of him speared him through and hefted him up. For a moment he felt a brief stab of sympathy for the infected guard dog he killed earlier. Only briefly. 

Time slowed as he briefly locked eyes with the creature that had once been a test tube half-sibling. The liquid black eyes showed no emotion human or otherwise as he was launched over the Neman's head. 

He forgot about it entirely as he felt his body leave the makeshift spear and fly through the air. He hit the wall behind the Neman with enough force that his breath was knocked out of him. He slid down the wall, hitting the floor and his vision blackened as he fought to stay conscious.  _Don't lose it now!_  He panicked. "Gahhh," he gasped. The Neman had already turned its back on him. Any normal person would have been dead by now.

Anyone else would be.

He lay stunned for a moment, gasping and staring at his mid-section. He'd put his hand over the wound through his shirt and watched the blood pour through his fingers, it made him feel slightly faint. It had slowed to a trickle.  The skin knit over the inner wound and Jake barely suppressed the urge to scream. Healing was great but it felt like he was burning as the raw nerve endings moved back into place. He managed to take a shaky breath and focus on the commotion in front of him.

All three Redfields were firing shots at the Neman. They obviously stung the creature but did not slow it down much. It was locked arm to arm with the Ustanak. Black liquid leached out of the Neman in several places. He couldn't see Wesker at all. Son of a bitch was probably just standing in the background not getting blood on himself.

As the pain in his gut left him Jake smiled ruefully and lifted his gun, aimed, and fired.


	26. Chapter 26

"Does she have any abilities?" Birkin’s voice penetrated Sherry’s thoughts. Startled she shot a glance towards him. He sat near the door. It felt better to be in close proximity to the creature outside. Not that he'd left the door open. He still wanted the barrier. He knew the creature hated him. He could sense the Neman’s emotions the longer they were connected. For now, it was fully under his command, but it didn’t have to like it.

Birkin couldn't believe how much had occurred since he had been away. Being away was how he chose to think about his death. The only way he could conceive the idea. He hadn’t been involved in the cloning projects. He’d allowed Wesker to take several memory overlays not understanding what they were for, nor had he cared at the time. The virus he’d been working on had been everything, had cost him everything as well.  His family being gone notwithstanding but the technological advancements Umbrella had come up with in the past few years were incredible

His own daughter's healing…he had skipped past the rest of her story and was completely focused on her abilities.

Sherry frowned. "I'm not sure." Sherry moved to place herself between Birkin and Anja. "But you're the last person I want to find out."

“Sherry, I don’t think—” Anna started, trying to placate her.

"I'm not going to hurt her." Birkin looked mortified. "I was just curious to see if the ability carried down the genetic line."

Anna went silent, glancing between the two of them. She and Birkin had never met before. She began to understand the animosity Jake felt towards her as she watched Sherry and the clone of her father.

"Funny," Sherry faced him hands on hips, anger in her voice. "That's just what your _friend_ Wesker said to me when he found out I was pregnant. He was going to keep me caged up. Jake's right. Our parents were fucked up."

Birkin's face turned red. "You know there is a chance they won't return."

"Don't say that."

"Sher—"

"Don't fucking say that!" Sherry turned her back on Birkin again.  _Oh God let him come back, Jake please come back,_  she prayed to herself. She thought she could stand being in here with the clone of her father, but the truth was Anja was the only person keeping her sane right now. Seeing her father's face was driving her crazy. For the first time in her life Sherry was ready to commit murder. Anna moved closer to Sherry and put a hand on her arm.

“I’m sorry.”

“He’ll come back,” She whispered as she looked at Anna, still amazed at Jake’s resemblance to his mother. She wondered if Jill had seen the difference because she’d seen Wesker’s face every day. Sherry saw Anna and for the first time she could really see who Jake resembled. Sure, there were similarities between him and his father, but his coloring was from his mother and her alone.

A nagging voice in the back of her head told her Wesker might be right. They might have to claw their way out of here on their own. She, with her healing abilities might actually have a shot at it. Jake should too. But these…

Thinking about Jake gave her pause. She turned back to Birkin.

"What did you know before you knew who I was?"

Birkin looked at Sherry surprised. "What do you mean?"

"What did Wesker tell you?"

"He told me both of you died, it was the company's fault."

"And?"

"I had planned on taking revenge…"

"What stopped you?"

"Nothing stopped me. I found out you were alive. Wesker lied about some things. I never believed that the company was completely responsible. He had some part in it too. I want revenge on him for lying about that part…not letting me know you were alive. Letting his son marry you."

Sherry crossed her arms as she studied Birkin.

"There really is no "letting us" do anything." She finally spoke in a soft whisper. "Jake and I found each other without Wesker's help. Jake never knew Wesker was his father until I found him. Every decision we've made, we've done on our own. Without either of you."

"But—"

"And it's going to stay that way."

"Sherry, I know this is hard…but Wesker was my friend. And he lied to me…"

"So?"

"So, it’s entirely possible Jake lied to you. Think about it. Just to cross the DNA between the two of you in the easiest way possible…"

"That's not exactly how Wesker operates," Sherry threw her hands up into the air, exasperated. "Jake is NOT his father."

"You don't know that."

"Actually, I do." Sherry turned away from Birkin again. This was the second time they had this argument. "No offense but the time to have this sudden interest in my welfare would have been years ago. Not now."

"Better late than never."

"NO," Sherry snapped. "But you are right about one thing. If they take too long, we may have to go on without them. I promised Jake I would stay alive and get Anja out."

Birkin breathed a sigh of relief. He had half thought he would have to knock Sherry out to get her to leave Jake behind. But she might just do it on her own, to protect their daughter. There was always a chance he wouldn't come back. Even better and he wouldn't have to do anything about it.

 

Anna had watched the exchange in silence. Her own thoughts stayed inside. She had so many burning questions for Sherry. But she didn’t want to speak in front of Birkin. How old was Jake? Where had they met? What happened? Why had she left?

Anna was honest with herself, these people, all of them, painted a very different picture of Albert than the one she knew. In private, Albert had discussed making the world a better place using the memory overlay program to help trauma victims, restore people to their families. It had so much promise. But to bring back the dead…

Her first reaction had been thrilled. She was a scientist, it was only natural. But to discover the tall man Wesker had brought with him was her son? And he didn’t know what to do around her. Anna grimaced, as the room fell into silence once again.

Only to herself was she going to admit that she’d fallen in love with Albert Wesker and the promise he’d made to change the world. Their long conversations had brought them close, a closeness he’d only showed when they were alone…

And yet, she’d fled from him before she died and raised their child alone in a third world country rather than be with Albert? What had happened?

She wrung her hands, leaving her thoughts unspoken. She wanted to ask Sherry all of these things, but now wasn’t the time. The younger woman was protective of her own child and Anna understood that she’d been a test subject at one point. Perhaps both of them had been. It was only a theory, but it made sense to Anna.

The seconds stretched on as the silence grew. Outside the creature dragged it’s claws on the floor until Birkin ordered it to stop.

 

 

Leon jumped into the hallway that twenty minutes before Chris and Claire had dropped out of. Ada dropped behind him silently. They turned around in a circle listening but hearing nothing but the buzzing of the flickering lights.

Leon sighed. Always bad lighting. "Wonder if this will be the next Raccoon City," he whispered out loud. What a homecoming this was. At least he was still armed. A forest had burned, he bet that in the coming days the burned out Arklay woods would be crawling with fire fighters making sure everything was burned down without a clue about what lay beneath. 

Or worse, they might actually find it and let something out.  He snickered at the thought. It would give the government a black eye, the idea that they’d missed something, but with B.O.W.s popping up all over the world it would be nothing new.

He started to the left keeping his rifle out in front of him moving slowly.

Ada shuddered inwardly, but out loud she replied with. "I'd rather not think about it. I'm pretty sure everyone you care about is in here."

Leon didn't reply. He wasn't sure if they were even going the right way and his head still hurt. He looked down and saw something dead, breaking down on itself. He moved closer and saw that it was a guard dog. The creature had a hole in its chest. Leon wondered what had killed it. He started forward around it without saying anything after a moment's hesitation Ada followed him.

The lights continued to flicker on and off. Leon half expected something to pop up in the black. “The lights always flicker when something bad is about to happen,” He muttered. Behind him Ada snickered but didn’t respond. "You working this time?"

"What's it to you?" Ada moved silently behind him. _Just keep your distance, Leon_.

"I don't normally see you this involved unless there's a job in the middle of it."

Ada shrugged behind him. "I don't know what you mean."

Leon kept moving forward. He would have liked nothing better than to have a conversation with this woman when she wasn't being mysterious. She was generally one step ahead of him. Worse he didn't exactly know who she was working for. Yet this time he was starting to have the feeling she was as much of a victim as Jake and Sherry.

"If I asked you what you were after this time around would you tell me?"

"Who says I'm after anything this time?"

"Never mind." Leon fell silent again, moving forward. She was going to keep the wall up that had always been there.

The lights kept flickering and they kept moving forward listening for any sound other than dripping water. Leon wondered what other creatures were down here. At this point he would have been grateful to run into a licker. The creature may have been lightning fast, but he could deal with that. They hadn’t scared him as much as the creature they’d just encountered upstairs.

A licker was just an animal, basic animal needs, a super predator.

That creature though, it had seen him, and it seemed to “think” even as it was sizing up the infected wolf in the forest. The intelligence behind the inky black eyes seemed evil, as it stared at him. But Leon had seen evil packaged as a beautiful woman, so he supposed that his own prejudices could have placed that idea in his head. The creature had appeared to study him before Ada shot it. Really study him as it hoisted him off the ground. While he didn’t doubt he would have ended up dead he couldn’t put the thought out of his mind that it was a thinking mind in there.

Not just an animal, and not easily controlled like the J’avo he’d encountered in China. So, what was it? A guard dog?

“What’s that?” Ada had stopped behind him. Leon mentally kicked himself for getting lost in his own thoughts.

He paused and listened, his eyes straining to see and his ears to hear.

There was a scratching sound against the floor coming from in front of them.

 _Tsssstssstsssss_ , hard nails against concrete.

He looked back at Ada, she stared at him for a moment and then nodded. They were going forward. Both of them were veterans at this. There really was no going back, to survive you had to hit whatever was in front of you and take it down. You couldn’t panic, if you did, you were dead. Feelings had no place in this kind of work. They both knew that too.

The lights flickered back on and a monster finally showed up in the darkness.

It resembled the creature outside, but it still had some vestiges of clothing on, tattered around its body. It was crouched on the floor drawing its nails against the concrete. It made no move towards them other than snap its head in their direction. Leon raised his gun, but he didn’t fire. Behind him, heard Ada inhale sharply and raise her sniper rifle.

“Stop making that sound.” The voice was so familiar that Leon almost dropped his gun.

 _Birkin?_ Should he even be surprised?

 


	27. Chapter 27

Grim satisfaction laced through Jake just as quickly as the pain left his gut when the side of the Neman’s head exploded all over the Ustanak. The red blood sprayed over he Ustanak and all over the wall as it suddenly dropped to the floor almost taking the Ustanak with it. The Ustanak dropped its hold on the Neman and then proceeded to pound the head into a pulp for good measure. It then cast a wary eye over to Jake and nodded at him. At least for the time being _they_ were on the same page. It then retreated behind it’s master who came forward with a cock-eyed smile on his face. He didn’t have to say a word, Jake knew what he was thinking already. _Told you so._

Worse Jake would have to admit that this was his favorite part of being in the DSO. Or one of them anyway. Being a mercenary since you were a kid didn’t afford you too many people skills, unless that involved killing them.  But the DSO had allowed him to use what he knew, and use it well. And he loved this part of his job. The rush of taking out the monster, making sure it hurt no one else. There was a single satisfying moment when the job was done. He was doing some good. At least that’s what he told himself. There was always a rush that went through at the beginning of any battle. He would be lying if he denied that he enjoyed fighting. It was a part of him as much as Wesker’s damned DNA. But the way Wesker held his chin up, a smug expression on his face made Jake doubt that he was doing anything remotely helpful. 

Again, Wesker’s words floated through his mind. _You are the most dangerous B.O.W. here Jake._ He stared at the ceiling for the moment and groaned. At least he wasn’t dead yet. His hand was coated with his own sticky blood where it started to coagulate on his shirt. There was a perfect hole in shirt but at least the injury was gone. He pulled himself to his feet feeling perfectly fine, something he’d seen Sherry do when he’d pulled a large piece of shrapnel out of her back. He’d been shocked when she walked away from that, the only evidence it had happened were some blood stains and a torn jacket. That was the first time he’d really seen her as a person and not his ticket to 50 million dollars. Ironic when no one else saw her that way.

She was going to have a fit when she saw him. He wiped his hands on his shirt as best he could.

“You ok, Jake?” Jill moved closer examining the hole where the wound should have been, and then she shrugged and moved off. Chris too came in for a closer look. Only Claire stayed back breathing hard. She’d been hit with a bit of blood and had feverishly wiped it off. Jake didn’t have the heart to tell her she had some smeared across her face. If it infected her through the skin it was already too late. He hoped it didn’t work that way for her sake.

“Which way, old man?” He looked at Wesker, ignoring how pleased he looked. Wesker pointed off to the right and Jake started moving in that direction. Jill fell in next to him, surprised he looked down at her and she shrugged.

“I don’t self-heal,” she whispered. “But I’ve got other talents.”  Jake only nodded. The noise from fighting the Neman had undoubtedly caused other creatures to start coming their way. Jake couldn’t wait to see what they ran into. “He does that you know.” Jill spoke in a low voice so Chris couldn’t hear.

“What?” Jake shrugged, he held his glock in front of him with his other hand free.

“He gets into your head, makes you doubt yourself or your friends.”

Jake flicked a glance at the woman next to him and briefly went through what he knew about her. Sherry had given him the shortened version and Jake wondered if had been the “clean” version just as Sherry’s had been. Guilt gnawed at him as he remembered he’d left her with the man who’d given her the G-virus in the first place. And basically, raped her as a mutated B.O.W. to do it.

“I’m not doubting my friends.” Jake muttered. “Just me.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty good about that.” Jill went silent, her ears straining. “Well shit that’s not good.”

“What else is down here?” Chris asked from behind  them both.

“Could be anything.” Claire added glancing behind her at Wesker. “Care to weigh in?”

“We’re getting close. If I recall correctly there are several labs with smaller experiments, you name it.”

“Anything dangerous?” Claire asked looking forwards again.

“Dangerous?” Wesker laughed. “There isn’t anything down here that isn’t dangerous Ms. Redfield.”

“Sounds like more dogs.” Jill added from the front.

“How many?” Jake strained to listen so he could answer Chris’s question.

“Too many.” He put the glock forward his body tensed as he waited. The sound of clawed, running, feet on concrete was definitely not his favorite. He hated running into infected dogs. They were too quick, too fast and agile. And you could shoot them repeatedly and they didn’t die.  You needed a head shot, although he’d been able to take them out with a quick kick to the face, destroying their brains in the process. This was especially effective against what used to be Dobermans.

The first one came out of the flickering darkness, jaws flapping as the skin sagged off exposing a row of blood stained teeth. Jake wondered when they’d hit their first zombies today.  Naturally the coat was full of open oozing sores dripping blood as the dog leaped into the air. Before Jake could react something flashed in front of him. A blur of movement that he realized was Jill. She was behind the first dog and suddenly in the middle of the pack. She had a dagger in hand smashing it into a dog’s head before he took a breath. The pack didn’t seem to realize the danger they were in as the knife hit home several times.

“Three,” he heard her mutter.

Jake’s foot flashed out and took down the first dog that reached him. And then they were surrounded.

He felt his hand hit a jaw aimed for his throat, heard the crunch of bone into brain matter.

“I got two,” he said.

“This isn’t a contest!” Chris said from behind him. Jake snuck a glance up at Jill, who grinned wickedly showing off just how flexible she was by hitting the floor in a perfect split to stick her dagger into the eye socket of the closest dog.

“Sure it is, loser buys us all around when we get out of this.” She was up on her feet moving down the all. Jake followed with Chris next to him. Chris swore at his wife but he was smiling.

Jill was actually having fun. 

If Sherry hadn’t been trapped back with the clone of her father, Jake probably would have had let go and had fun too.

“Three, four!” He shouted as he shot two dogs that tried to rush him. Behind him he could hear Chris taking aim. With Jake and Jill in front, Chris was free to take out anything that got past them.

“Damn it!” Jake swore as he felt teeth bite into his leg. He saw two dogs fly over his head, past Jill, and the Ustanak was then between them and the rest of the pack.

It was an incredible sight to behold. As much as Jake despised the creature, even he could admit as much. He swung his arms without thought or care catching the infected animals left and right. It was enough to give the rest a break from fighting, although Jake just felt his adrenaline starting to cycle back.

The Ustanak turned around and stared at him for a moment, Jake realized there were no more dogs to fight. There was a moment of silence and then it shrugged its shoulders.

“Ok, big ugly, you win!” Jake glanced at the spattered walls. “Although how you are buying a round is beyond me.”

Jill laughed, the sound ringing out into the flickering black. 

“So what exactly is left down here?”

Wesker shrugged. “This level is tame compared to the lower levels.”

“The lower levels?” Chris pointed a gun at Wesker’s head. “I’m kind of getting to the point where I want to test a theory. They say you can heal like Jake there, would you die if I blew your head off?”

The Ustanak growled a warning. Chris subsided but didn’t lower his weapon.

“Let’s just move guys,” Jake said when Wesker remained silent. Again the silence, the smug expression. He glanced at Jill who only shook her head. Jake could have sworn that they were being tested again. Chris had a grim expression on his face and Claire remained silent.

“All of you have always been so good at surviving whatever this company has thrown at you.” Wesker said into the silence. “I wonder which one you won’t make it this time.”

“Seriously?” Jake rounded on Wesker. “Give it a fucking already.”

“Just making an observation.” He pointed in front of him and Jake turned. There in front of him stood an enormous locker, with a hallway that squared off to the left. He moved to it and glanced down but saw nothing but empty hallway when the lights flickered on.

“This happened really fast.” Claire whispered behind them. “Just like the hospital.”

“Or you are just so boringly predictable.” Wesker replied.

“Is there a time you weren’t an asshole?” Jake muttered moving to stare at the locker, he turned to look at Wesker. “I don’t suppose you want to open this up?”

“Of course.” Wesker put his palm on the door and it scanned his hand. A keypad popped open and he typed in a code, and then lowered his eyes to the same scanner and had his corneas scanned…

The large door swung open silently on well kept hinges.

Jake’s eyes lit up at the artillery in front of him.

“Grab what you can in a hurry.” Wesker glanced around. “We’ve seen the dogs, I’m pretty sure the rest of the staff won’t be far behind.”

Jake moved forward and simply loaded up, handing Chris back the Glock. Even Chris grabbed a few grenades. _Grenades,_ Jake though sheepishly as he belted on vest made just for carrying them. _They must have some serious shit down here._

He stepped back after making sure he had a dagger similar to the one Leon insisted saved his life more than he could count. 

"They will never accept you as one of them."

The voice was so low that Jake barely heard it. Unconciously he had placed himself between Wesker, and the others.

Jake could never get over how calm Wesker always seemed. He flicked his eyes back up to Jill who was watching him. Jill shook her head, silently agreeing that Wesker was an asshole.

"Things ever go like this before?" Jake asked out loud before Wesker could start talking to him again.

"Yeah," Chris responded turning around, "especially with him."

Jake nodded and he closed his eyes picturing Sherry for a moment. He felt guilty about leaving her with the clone of her father but his real worry was that this was all a show and he had played right into Wesker's hands.

He hated how fucking calm the guy was.

"How big is this place?" The question was directed at Chris but it was Wesker who answered.

"The original facility expanded far underground beneath Raccoon City. We had accesses that led into the mountains, to the mansion, everywhere. There were plenty of escape routes. Initially the project was huge. There were plenty of no go zones, even I wasn't aware of the size and scope of the facility that Spencer had planned. I've tapped into it, Umbrella or whatever they want to be called now, they're everywhere."

Jake turned to stare at Wesker. "And you joined them?"

"Joined them?" Wesker laughed, the scorn apparent in his voice. "Joined is such a strong word…I came from them. They made me…"

"You were a test tube baby." Jake finished.

"In a manner of speaking." Wesker looked away his hands balling into fists for a moment before relaxing. _Was that a trace of anger?_

"What happened to the original owners?"

In answer Wesker smiled and said nothing. Jake turned away, not really faulting the guy for killing anyone involved with Umbrella. The organization itself was still fairly far and remote but the connections to himself were falling into place. It made Jake feel uncomfortable. His father had been “made” and his mother worked here.

"Hey," Chris put a hand on his shoulder. "We should get moving, this place is huge. Honestly I'd rather head back to Sherry and take our chances together getting out then to keep going deeper into this place."

"I thought they bombed this place into oblivion." Claire muttered, simultaneously coming forward.

"The surface was completely destroyed." Wesker responded. "But the Underground facility runs pretty deep. It would be impossible to destroy completely with surface bombs."

"So what do you suggest?" Jake asked.

Wesker hesitated. "I would suggest not going too deep."

This time everyone's eyes were on him and he looked uncomfortable.

"What's down there." Chris demanded. Jill moved closer, eyes narrowed. She’d gotten the closest glimpse of the mad man that was Wesker and didn’t even looked surprised.

"Other projects that got out of control, projects that should remain buried." Wesker paused. "An AI that is worse than any BOW ever spewed out. You don't want her getting to the surface."

"Her?"

Wesker focused on Jake now. "You think that biology is the only department Umbrella worked on? What if you could copy the mind and load it into the hard drive of a sophisticated computer system? What if they copied the mind of someone truly terrifying and loaded it into the system as a guard."

"At this point nothing would surprise me." Chris muttered. He glanced at Jill whose jaw had dropped.

"Jesus." Claire said at the same time.

"So, no I wouldn't recommend going too deep. Umbrella lost control of that… technology. Safety protocols disconnected it from the surface."

"Who was the her?" Chris demanded suddenly. He had a nagging suspicion, someone they had encountered before…he didn't even want to consider it.

Wesker stared at him, his lips quirked at the corner before he answered. "Yes…Alexia."

“Care to explain?” Jake asked, but the Ustanak suddenly grunted.

“We’ve got company,” Jill responded, she turned to Chris and Jake. “They’re coming from where we left.”

“Shit.” Jake looked up the hallway. These weren’t dogs but the things that bothered him the most even if they were the easiest to kill. People who were straight up Zombies, just like the hospital.

He lifted his gun and fired, taking down the lead and watching those behind it trip over the body. At least these weren’t J’avo. They were mindless and easy to kill, but the problem was the numbers. 

“Guess we found the lab techs.” Jill said from next to him.

Jake moved forward before anyone else could. “Jake!” Chris shouted as he moved behind him. Jill was already up next to him.

“No way I’m getting those drinks,” Jake muttered as he mowed the zombies down.


	28. Chapter 28

Ada lifted her gun but Leon put a hand on it and pushed it down. The creature made no move towards them but he could feel the hatred radiating off of it.

“Ok, so we hear Birkin and you don’t want me to kill it. Did you hit your head that hard?” Ada snapped.

“I don’t think it can attack us.” Leon said. “Do you remember the plaga sample you picked up?”

“Vaguely,” Ada studied the creature wondering what Leon saw that made him hesitate. It could have been the tattered clothing still attached to the powerful torso, in a gross parody of Tarzan. The way it crouched it could leap at them at any time with a huge leap if it wanted. They’d both be dead.

But it just sat there, staring at them.

Ada had had enough, she lifted her gun again, but as she did so a door opened and Birkin himself stepped out in front the creature, exactly as she remembered him, white lab coat and all. He looked like he’d gotten a good dose of food poisoning, he was pale, his eyes were red rimmed, and he was sweating.

To Leon he resembled a rebel school teacher he once knew in the Eastern Slav Republic.

He stared at them not recognizing either. “Who are you?” 

 

 

Sherry had paced the room waiting for something in her gut to tell her when too long of a wait was too long. Anna had watched her, eyes filled with sympathy. 

Birkin had egged her on, but in the end for some odd reason she’d been automatically assumed to be the one to make a decision. She was the prisoner here, they made no sense but she realized both of her parents had been followers, not leaders.  She had the same traits, but when it came to Jake…

She had to find him.

 _Sherry do this for me._ His voice played in her head.  God, she felt her lack of patience as she paced. This was usually what Jake did. He paced in front of her, whenever he was restless, whenever he thought they were making a bad decision. She remembered when she’d first met him, he paced around every corner of the room checking for danger, never really looking at her. She wasn’t a threat to him so he ignored her.

“Open the door.” She turned to Birkin. Birkin had been waiting for this moment. In his own mind, his own plans were formulating. Ways to get Sherry out of here.

He’d failed her on so many levels, and yet he knew given the choice to do it all again, he probably would end up in the lab. Given the choice now he was going back, there was too much work to do. Sherry didn’t understand but he would at least do this one thing for her. He would separate her from the Wesker if he had chance. It would be one gift he could manage. A chance for her and Anja to start anew, fresh without that kind of taint.

Sherry picked up Anja and strapped her in. The infant laid her head down and fell asleep. Jake’s voice played in her head again. _She’s such a smart kid, almost knows she needs to be quiet right now._

She pushed him out of mind. Anna held up the diaper bag. Sherry shook her head. “We need a back pack. That one will be awkward if we run into anything.” She left out the part, that it would be awkward if they ran into ANYTHING period.

“There’s actually one here.” Anna moved pass the bad picked up a black military styled backpack, she zipped it open and dumped the contents of the diaper back inside and then put it on herself.

“I can carry it,” Sherry offered.

“We’re both weaponless,” Anna said donning the back pack. “What’s not awkward about this?”

“We have the Neman.” Birkin said from the door. Anna was a liability. He was having trouble believing that this woman had created the overlays that allowed him to be here. She seemed…

He had trouble putting his finger on it. Not into her work. Not as much as he and Wesker had been.

“Ready?” Sherry nodded and moved to the door. Birkin opened the keypad, typed in the code and the door slid open.

He stepped outside and saw two people he didn’t recognize out there in front of the Neman.

“Who are you?” He was about to order the creature to attack, they didn’t need any extra baggage when Sherry flew at the man.

“Leon!” Her arms wrapped around him and Birkin held back at the last second. Just what he needed. At least it wasn’t Wesker returning with weapons. While this guy was armed and ready, he didn’t have the things Wesker kept for such situations.

The woman eyed him with all the subtlety of a cat stalking a mouse. He wasn’t sure what to make of her but she wasn’t going to be easy to fool, he realized.

Leon released Sherry looking down at her. “Where’s Jake?”

“He went for weapons with Wesker.” Leon frowned at this, noticing a red headed woman standing behind Sherry.

“Oh, this is Anna Muller.” Sherry said it without thinking and Leon stumbled a bit over the last name. It was too much to be a coincidence. Not with everyone else here coming back from the dead. He briefly wondered how Jake had reacted. His partner was a bit of a hot head and this would have been quite a blow to him.

Sherry gave him a knowing look. Anna extended her hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you.”

She doesn’t hide her accent like Jake does, he noticed.

“So,” Leon paused and looked at the Neman. “Anyone want to tell me what that thing is? Why its not killing us?”


	29. French Kiss 29

The fall knocked the wind out of Jake. For a moment all he could do was stare up at the hole he’d just fallen through. Voices from far away sounded, he realized it was his name being called. The next sound he noticed was the cracking of his own bones as they moved into place. It was intense, it was extreme, and it covered his entire body. The pain was too much, and he screamed even though he knew it would attract whatever was possibly down here. And the worst things that you could imagine that went bump in the night were down here. The sound echoed for what felt like ages in the darkness. He saw heads above him far away from the circle, they looked like ants. His screams died into moans as the pain receded. He gasped as it faded completely.

He didn’t need too much motivation that something would have heard him. He groaned and pushed himself up.

“Jake!” Somewhere above Chris’s voice echoed down to him. He could see the flickering light above and their silhouetted figures flaring in and out of the lights.

“I’m fine.” He shouted back. Whatever was down here was going to hear this anyway. They were all attracting way too much attention as it was.

“Jake,” Wesker’s voice carried down to him. “You are in a room with… I can’t remember which exactly, but you are in containment.” 

Jake’s heart stopped. Great, he thought. He couldn’t anything in the darkness.

“Do you want me to come down?” Jill’s voice.

“No!” Jake pushed back instantly. “I want you to get to Sherry.”

“We’re not leaving you Jake.” Chris’s voice shouted down.

No, you’re just going to get me killed with all this racket. Jake glanced around feeling his skin tingle. Containment, he thought as he circled. His pants and shirt were both torn and bloody now. Sherry really was going to kill him if he survived long enough to get to her.

“I’m going to at least toss down a light.” Claire’s voice came next, and he heard the thud as it hit the ground somewhere to his right.

He tapped his head trying to feel his headset. It didn’t feel damaged in the least. He wondered about the ones in his pocket. He had a few clips on his belt, but no gun.

“Can you guys hear me?” His voice dropped to a whisper as he turned on the headset.

“Loud and clear.” Chris’s voice came back.

“Good, Wesker what’s down here?”

Wesker’s voice came back tight, he managed to actually sound concerned. “A few different creatures are contained on that level, Jake. I’m not exactly sure which one is in that room…”

There was the sound of feet slapping against the floor.

“Hold up.” Jake whispered into the headset. “Something just showed up.”

He grabbed the flashlight up off the floor, clicked it on and pointed it at the sounds echoing towards him now. The light caught the creature in a high beam causing it to throw up a pink mutated arm to shield its face.

“Well, well, well,” Jake said out loud, his body stiffening in disgust as he took in the creature wobbling towards him. “Hello again, Titbags.”

The unsteady, slimy, naked body careened toward Jake in a drunken fashion. Although Jake truly wasn’t sure how anything could keep its balance with that many “tits” stuck to the sides. They weren’t really “breasts” in the normal sense. He’d endured a few lectures from Sherry and Leon about the creatures but the only parts he’d paid any attention to was where their weaknesses were, and how to best kill them.

The only word that echoed through his mind was: _Why_? Why on earth would anyone create a creature that looked twisted and tortured like this. He knew on paper there was a reason it was created. On paper they had listed its attributes, and what it was supposed to do. But looking at it, Jake couldn’t help but feel pity for whoever it used to be.

That feeling didn’t last long. He backed off into the shadows intently listening just in case there were more of “titbag’s” friends in here. The creature moved towards the light, its face split open in a grin that only promised death. Within those wide jaws lay its tongue, a weapon that Jake knew from experience it would try to shove down his throat. It was the French kiss from hell and he really didn’t want any part of it. He shuddered. _Did they have everything down here?_

The creature glanced up towards the light reaching its arms towards the figures silhouetted in the flickering light. It let out a frustrated squeal and returned to its search for Jake.  Jake stayed in the darkness. Somewhere over there his gun had fallen but he didn’t have it in his hands and as soon as he moved into the light to look for it Titbags would be on him trying to give him the kiss of death.

He didn’t like his options at this point. He could hear Chris whispering into his ears, asking if he was ok but he ignored him for the moment. He didn’t need to attract any attention to himself. 

 _You are the most dangerous B.O.W. here, Jake._ Wesker’s voice popped into his mind. He wondered what it meant. Or if it was just something to make him feel unsettled. He balled his fists together as he weighed his options. He had taken on more than a few B.O.W.s with his bare hands. Titbags despite its clumsiness was strong beyond belief. Once it got his hands on you, the next step was the tongue.  And there was no way Jake was letting that thing kiss him to death.

With the naked creature trundling in circles Jake got tired of waiting. His body tensed, and he launched himself at the spot where he’d seen his gun hoping that it was still there. He didn’t think it had been touched by the monster, or kicked away. A grin split his face as his hands gripped the metal. _Finally, a little luck!_ Just as quickly though he felt his shoulders grabbed from behind. The nails dug into his skin tearing what was left of his shirt. At this rate he was going to meet Sherry in tatters. It would have been comical if he had time to stop and think about it, but he was being spun around and crushed against a wall of fume leaking “breasts.”

He put his hands up to push away, which turned out to be a mistake as it only crushed the flesh bags causing them to spew the powerful gas that instantly had him nauseated. If he had been anyone else, he would have collapsed on the spot. But his healing ability helped him stay up right even as the jaws over his head opened and the enormous tongue came flailing out. “Shit!” He yelled, he had one hand around his gun, the other he had snatched the end of the tongue, the monster squealed as they danced around in circles.  He couldn’t give ground to this thing, one misstep and it was over. Other voices were yelling into his ears now. He blocked out the sound wishing he could toss the head set off now.

A few more rounds and Jake had had enough. This macabre dance could go on forever, but he didn’t have the energy to keep it up. He let go of the tongue knowing he’d have seconds before it reached his throat and with every bit of strength he had left he punched it in the side of the head. The circling stopped. The flailing arms that had seize him flopped to the side even as the tongue grazed his jawline in a last attempt to stick it in before dropping limp. The creature collapsed nearly pulling Jake down to the ground with it.

Jake stared at it, revulsion rocking his body, before his senses returned and he then fired two shots into the brain.

He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before Wesker’s voice chilled him to the bone.

“I told you, you were the most dangerous B.O.W. here, Jake.”


	30. Memories of a Dead Man

Jake stared up at the gap in the ceiling wondering for the umpteenth time how he was going to get back up there. How he was going to get out of the cell. He tore off of his shredded shirt and tucked his gun into his pocket. He was starting to feel better already as the healing process took over. Normally he wasn't a fan, but this time, anything that got him back to Sherry was a plus.

"Was it just the one?" He shouted up, not caring if another creature was in the cell with him.

He could make out the silhouettes of those standing above him, just not which they were. A rope dropped in front of him.

"Climb up," Chris's voice floated down from him.

 

#####################################

 

"Well," Sherry hesitated. "Jake went for weapons with Wesker...and we are waiting for them to come back."

"The facility is on lockdown." Anna offered.

Leon could see it, Jake's coloring, his eyes, those were all from Anna Muller. This was the woman who'd run. Well, not this one, he corrected himself. He wondered how Jake had taken it. By the look on Sherry's face, not too well. She clutched Anya, in her carrier, to her chest, her lips tightened as she shook her head. Sherry knew him long enough to know what he was asking with a look.

Leon faced Anna again, holding the baby bag. His head still ached, at some point, he was really going to need a doctor, or a shot of whiskey, or both.

"Chris and Claire are both here." He finally got out. "I don't know where they are now, we kind of got separated."

"Are they sending a team?"

"I'm not sure," Leon responded looking at Sherry. "It's one thing to send one man in, it's another to admit the problem is big enough to send in a team. And it's on our soil so there's some arguing over who has the right..." He stopped. "It's neither here nor there. The biggest issue is getting everyone out. Keeping the witnesses alive..."

"Witnesses?" Ada spoke behind him. "They are hardly innocent." She moved next to Leon, still managing to sexy to Leon, even in nurses scrubs. The sniper rifle still looked dangerous in her hands, even if she looked like a woman in pajamas. It was a ridiculous combination. He would have to ask her about it later. If there was a later.

"Biggest issue is getting us all out." Birkin interrupted Leon's thought process. The man looked sick, and Leon wondered if he'd been infected again. The odds seemed high considering what he'd the last time he'd encountered the man. And the clones? They seemed damned determined to repeat the mistakes of the originals.

"So," Leon looked at him. "What is the fastest way out. Anything that says go down, I'm not really up for."

"No, it's all upstairs." The man could not hide his dislike of Leon. And Leon studied him in return. Every movement, squint of the eyes, rise and fall of his chest the way his clammy hands fisted and released spoke that Leon had interrupted whatever plans the man was about to undertake.

"That thing goes in front."

"Agreed." Birkin looked at the creature who stalled for a moment, there was a battle of wills and the creature with a growl moved to the front. Leon couldn't help but inhale as it moved past with the deadly grace of a predator. Considering how close he'd gotten to being killed by one earlier, Leon wasn't liking his chances at encountering another. These weren't dumb like lickers. Lickers were basic predators, this creature could hate, it could think, and it could plot.

Birkin was not as in control as he thought he was. Birkin knew it, Leon knew it. No one said anything.

"Now you." Ada was taking Leon's lead in this. Leon wondered how long it would be until she ditched. She worked alone, fought alone, and did her jobs mostly alone. But she wasn't completely heartless. She eyed the baby in Sherry's carrier with some sympathy and moved to stand behind Birkin with a glance back at Leon. "Ready?"

He gave a look at Sherry and Anna who both nodded. They were leaving the "safe room." If Leon owed Jake anything at this point, it would be to get his wife and child safe. There had to be a way to leave a message. Jake's healing ensured that he'd survive just about anything besides being hit with a bomb.

"Move out." He said as they started forward. Two women loaded down with baby gear and a baby, a mad scientist, a DSO agent, and a, well he wasn't really sure what Ada was...

He didn't like their odds.

Jake hauled himself over the edge of the hole feeling it catch against his skin, tearing him places. It wouldn't matter. It would be healed over before he stood. The sting had already faded. He stood and shot a glance at Wesker before glancing back down at the hole he'd just climbed out of.

Titbag's body lay stretched, looking deflated in the flickering lights, liquids leaching out of the pile of "breasts" that made up the creature. Jake shuddered again by reflex. His eyes met Wesker's.

"Why?" He rasped before coughing.  _Guess I'm not over the fumes yet._

Wesker shrugged before turning away. Jake reached out and grabbed his shirt yanking him around again to face him. In an instant the Ustanak was behind Wesker growling menacingly, all three of the Redfields had their guns up. Chris and Claire pointed at the Ustanak, Jill's pointed at Wesker.

"What answer would satisfy you, Jake?" Wesker sneered at him as Jake let go of his shirt. Both men stood eye to eye. He felt disgust roll through him, and the idea that he shared DNA with this man sickened him. He stepped back, towards the Redfields.

"Why don't you tell me what it was that you did, that made my mother run away all those years ago?"

Silence. He wasn't his father, wasn't the same man necessarily but if he wasn't lying... He still had the memories of a dead man in his head.

Wesker swallowed, his eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

Jake wondered if he even knew the answer. It didn't matter. Wesker may have brought her back, but he needed her research, and she was a tool to him. That was it, whatever she thought.

 _She had to have known,_  he thought to himself. At some point, she had to have realized what he was.

He turned away facing Redfield, Jill, & Claire. Damn, things must have been bad if Redfield felt more like family than his actual DNA relative. He shook his head. "We need to get back to that safe room."

He was missing his shirt, covered in his own blood, still wielding his 9mil, and an earpiece. He'd managed to get this far with a broken chair leg and being speared by a Neman. His partner was possibly dead, but his wife was still down here. He closed his eyes against the pain and moved back up the tunnels they'd come from.

He'd gone five feet when the tunnel ceiling collapsed down in front of them.

 


	31. The Monsters Start to come out...

The dust settled and Jake tried his best not to cough and attract the attention of whatever insanity Wesker had put down here. It wasn't easy as his lungs felt as if they were caked with sawdust. If he were a normal man he would have worried about cancer. But Jake was more worried about turning into a J'avo, and honestly, cancer would have been preferable to him than the alternative. With cancer, he would at least have some say in how he died. As a j'avo, he was a thing, a monster, no longer human. Completely at the mercy of someone else. No longer able to refuse a single order given.

He shook his head to clear it as he pushed himself up from the floor. The fall would attract whatever else was down here and judging from his most recent encounter with good old titbags, none of them were going to be pretty.

"Everyone ok?" He grunted. He could hear them moving around him in the darkness, their voices sounded muffled in the dust. He clicked on his light and turned in a circle. Better ascertain who was here that was human, or other...

"We're good," Chris muttered completely coated and brown in Jake's flashlight beam. Jake guessed he looked the same way. What he wouldn't give for a shower. 

He sneezed causing another cloud of dust to roll off of him.  _Great. Just great._

At least they hadn't encountered another Neman. He snuck a glance at Wesker and his giant minion of death. They were all coated with the same dust. 

"We should probably move," Claire's voice squeaked from somewhere behind Chris. 

"Well, how do we get back to the safe room now?" Jake turned to Wesker. 

Wesker looked him in the eye knowing Jake was not going to like the answer. "You'll have to go up."

"Like as in out?" Jill appeared behind Chris, she too was covered in dust and ash.

"Shhhh." Jake put a finger to his mouth. He could hear the faint sound of clicking against the concrete floors. He turned to the group. "They're coming."

 

#################

 

"We're going up." 

Leon's voice was firm.

"But Ja-" Sherry started. Leon silenced her with a look. 

"Sherry no offense, but Jake would kill me if I let you wander around down here with Anja." 

Sherry closed her mouth. Jake had already begged her to stay behind and get Anja out. She hated the very idea of her escaping and not him. They'd already played this game one too many times.

When she didn't argue further Leon nodded and turned to Birkin. "Order that thing to move out."

Birkin nodded, his face was almost translucent now and he had sweat stains on his white button-up shirt. He'd discarded the lab coat, it was just too hot for him. 

As everyone one else moved forward Leon hung back next to him.

"I met a man like you once in the ESR," he looked over at the cloned doctor. "He thought he needed to control the situation by using a B.O.W. and he wanted the superior technology."

"And did he?" Birkin replied not looking at Leon but concentrating on the Neman in front of him. It scraped its fingers against the wall to draw attention and Leon ordered it to stop. It fought him at every turn, every loophole. It would lead in front of them but it wasn't careful. Finally he ordered it to move in complete silence which after flaring in anger it did. 

"No," Leon watched the Neman as they moved down the hall.  "He lost his friends, brothers, but he had to give it up in the end. It cost him his legs. That's what you have inside of you. Isn't it?"

Birkin hesitated before nodding. "It won't be like that for me."

"No, maybe not," Leon turned to face him. "This time you'll lose everything you worked for, not just your family. Not the things that really should have mattered."

"I had my own set of measures planned," Birkin admitted. "I never believed Wesker's story..." His voice drifted off as he stared at the creature in front of him. Thoughtful. "To think, all I had to was give Jake a shot like the others... and that's what he'd become. A real monster... Like the rest of the Weskers..." He looked thoughtful. Leon glanced ahead at the others, Sherry had turned and given him a horrified stare but Birkin missed it completely.

"I'm not sure he's the real monster here," Leon gave Birkin a hard look. "Jake may be Wesker's biological son but he's hardly a Wesker." 

Birkin nodded before he found himself nose to nose with Sherry. She'd handed Anja off to Anna before getting in his face. "IF anything happens to Jake and it's your fault... Don't think I wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes.... Dad."

Then she turned away, returning to Anna's side without looking back. 

Behind her, Leon grinned, but it was sad smile. Birkin's own selfishness had put Sherry in this position. Both of their father's had really. He stared at the back of the red headed woman that was a clone of Jake's mother. Moving away from Birkin he pushed up next to Anna.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Anna glanced over at Sherry, who was readjusting the straps to keep Anja in place. Anna had put the backpack with Anja's things inside of it. She took a sideways glance at Leon. "You're his partner?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about him." Leon glanced over at her, not surprised. From what little he'd gleaned from Sherry, Jake's mother had sacrificed everything to keep him hidden from Wesker, while at the same time telling him his father loved him and would find him someday. She should have told him he'd died, Leon mused.  

"He lost his mother when he was 14," Leon's voice was low as the two of them drifted behind Sherry. "She was sick when she died, he hated his father, whoever he was for it." 

Anna winced at this but said nothing. "He's been a mercenary since then, hard life, but he was good at it. And now he works with me because he's too damn good at taking out B.O.W.'s to do anything else."

Anna nodded. "He can't even look at me."

"What do you expect? It's like seeing a ghost. And you aren't her, you just look like her."

"And share the same DNA," Anna said drily.

He was about to reply when Ada pushed up next to him. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone froze. In the flickering lights and dripping pipes, there was distinct tapping sound. Leon listened intently for a moment.

"It's just--" Birkin started but Leon held up a hand to silence him. He was watching the Neman intently as it cocked its head to the side listening.

"I think we're about to have company," Leon glanced over at Ada. He pushed Anna and Sherry back with Birkin and moved behind the Neman. If the creature turned and attacked them they literally stood no shot. He'd have to trust that Birkin would keep the creature under control.  He'd have to keep Birkin under control. 

Leon wasn't under any illusions that should he turn his back on the scientist he'd get a knife in it. Or a claw. 

"What is this place?" He turned back to Birkin. "What do you have down here?"

Birkin, already white paled even further. "Everything," he whispered. 

#######

 

 

Jake listened to the skittering that was coming towards them at a rapid speed. Whatever it was, it was large. He turned to Wesker.

"What the hell is that?"

Wesker shrugged. "Guess we'll find out, won't we?"

Chris grabbed Jake's arm. "Is it possible that these things will escape topside?"

Jake said nothing for a moment before nodding. "Chris there's something you should know. These things, Nemans, they're intelligent."

"We got that much." Christ started to move away.

"No, Chris listen, I saw one operating a computer, it released the others, this is the distraction."

"A distraction?" Jill came up to the other side of Jake.

All three of them turned to look at Wesker. "You know as much as I'd love to take the credit for creating the Nemans you really have to hand it to Birkin. He figured things out faster than I thought he would. Hell his revenge is kind of perfect."

"This was Birkin's idea?" 

Wesker simply raised an eyebrow at Claire's question. "Figuring out how to mutate those who are immune to the new C-Virus? Subverting those sharing my DNA, come on, you think I would have done it."

"Short answer?" Jake snapped. "Yeah, you would have, if you'd thought of it first."

"They're kind of beautiful in their own way," Wesker continued. "Deadly, I'm betting he hadn't had time to try the plaga on them yet, probably bumped his schedule up. Which is why he's coughing so much."

"Meaning?"

Wesker got to the point. "Birkin tampered with the DNA to speed up the plaga's growth. It will take over at some point. Either he'll lose control over the Neman and it kills them all. Or," Wesker held up two fingers. "The plaga takes control and the Neman feels the need to spread the wealth. I'm really curious to see who wins first."

Jake punched the wall. 

"So as you can see," Wesker continued ignoring Jake's outburst. "We are running out of time."

His words echoed over the now silent hallway.  The scrabbling had stopped and the group tensed. Even the Ustanak peered into the darkness with clenched fists.

A low hissing came from in front of them. 

Fuck this, Jake thought. He'd take titbags again over waiting for the creature to show itself. He raised his Glock and fired into the direction of the monster. The bullet hit something with a loud thud as it embedded itself into something solid.

He heard the inhale from the creature, the sharp intake rose up from the floor to the ceiling. Whatever it was, it was huge. Jake clicked his light on and wished he hadn't.

In front of them stood what could only be described as the world's largest centipede. Segmented legs chittered against the floor as it began to move forward slowly, its antennae testing the air. It wasn't exactly a centipede, large gnashing jaws took the place of mandibles but to Jake, those were just minor details. 

_Fuck, how do we kill that thing?_

_#################_

"Move!" Leon managed to get them going at a jog. It no longer mattered if they were quiet. They'd been detected. Anja had started to cry, capturing the intense scrutiny of the Neman in front of them.

"Where are we going?" Sherry asked as she jogged. 

"There!" Leon pointed to the hole in the ceiling. It had very little to get on, but he knew there was a ladder inside. 

He glanced around, there were no other creatures... yet. 

"Ok, Sherry, up you go."

"What?"

"Now, don't argue. Take Anja."

Leon picked Sherry up around the waist and pushed her up into the tunnel. Sherry grabbed the ladder and hauled herself into the tunnel and started climbing.

"Anna."

The red headed woman came next, without a word. He nodded at her and pushed her up into the tunnel next. 

"Ada." 

"No," Ada stopped in front of him. "I'm going with you."

"Ada, any other time, I would say yes. Well, hell yes. But I need you to get them to safety. And I know you can better than anyone."

Ada hesitated, caught between wanting to escape back into her own world and her feelings for this man. Feelings she had in spite of herself. 

"And you?" 

"I'm going after the others."

"Of course you are."

"I'm taking the doc with me." 

Ada looked over at the Birkin leaning against the wall, pale, and exhausted. "He'll try to kill you if he can."

"I figured. Go."

Ada nodded, turning she leaped up into the tunnel and grabbed the first step of the ladder, hoisting herself into the shaft without assistance. 

Leon listened as they climbed up. He then turned to Birkin. "Shall we take a walk, doctor?"

"She's right you know. I would try to kill you."

"I got it."

"And you still coming with?"

"My partner is still down here. And my friends." People I think of as family. Leon didn't say that out loud. He moved off into the darkness following the creature. 

They'd gone twenty feet when a loud inhuman shriek rang out in the flickering darkness.


End file.
